One
by Milsap
Summary: 2004- A rookie S.T.A.R.S member gets more than he signed up for when a murder in a Raccoon City bar escalates into another conspiracy. Featuring characters new and old.
1. Chapter 1

Resident Evil- One

Somewhere in Afghanistan: November 14th 2001- 0120"

"Fuck it, let's just get out and go on foot. This pickup's had it" The Sergeant's voice shouted to the Private on the other side of the vehicle. "I'll get Joe, you go ahead and get some help." The Private just nodded, dumped his protective jacket in the sand and carrying only his sidearm and a water flask began running up the road towards the Army base. The Sergeant lifted Andy, the Staff Sergeant, off the back of the pickup and began carrying him up the road in a fireman's carry.

"Don't worry sir, everything's going to be fine. Just stay with me! Keep talking!"

"B... B... Br..." The Staff tried to say, but he was too weak and too badly injured to talk. The pair got another mile up the road, before realising they would have to walk in the sand to stay hidden as they could hear a vehicle approaching from behind. Another hundred or so yards were travelled, but it felt like an eternity to them. The adrenaline fuelling their escape from the Taliban controlled city.

But it was about to get a whole lot worse...

"What's that beeping?" Thought the Sergeant, thinking he was hearing things. The beeping began to get faster and faster...

"Oh shit..."

Kandahar, Afghanistan: November 13th 2001- 0203:

The C-17 Globemaster's engines roared as it took off from the makeshift airfield. Because Kandahar was still under Taliban control, the only forward operations base the coalition could establish was a poorly maintained motorway about twenty miles east of the city. On board the aircraft were twelve military officers: eight British, three American, and two Canadian. On beds fixed to the deck of the transport aircraft with heavy duty clamps and attached to an array of life support machines were two soldiers: Both of them American. The ECGs kept a constant readout, while the breathing apparatus kept both soldiers alive. One of them, a young Sergeant in his early twenties, was in a bad way. His head had taken a pounding and they were worried about the kind of fractures that could have been sustained. His legs had been shattered too, with one doctor comparing them to half-empty toothpaste tubes. Another doctor, upon seeing these horrific injuries, vomited into a bucket. When the jet was at cruise altitude, the doctors began doing all diagnostics they could with the equipment they had.

"That's a head injury the likes of which I've never seen before" One of the RAF doctors commented, pointing with a pen and holding a clipboard in his hand. "How he is still alive I do not know. He's breathing all by himself, the life support is barely doing any of the work."

"Do we have a name, rank and number?" Another doctor asked. The first doctor reached for the Sergeant's collar to find the dog tags. They had been stained with blood. All they could gather from them were the soldier's rank and a partial number: A Sergeant, and the number

1—18-74. They were distracted momentarily by the sound of a flatlining ECG coming from the other end of the plane. The Staff Sergeant who was also on board was unable to hang on, and he died in the skies of northern Afghanistan. As one of the doctors covered him with the sheet, the others looked at the battered Sergeant.

"I'm just beginning to pray that this one hangs on until we get to RAF Waddington..."

Marble River Memorial Garden: September 25th, 2004- 0930: 

Raccoon City, 2004. The T-Virus contamination following the outbreak of 1998 had been killed off, and the government had since rebuilt Raccoon City. The thousands of people who had been evacuated had returned, and they were all present at the memorial wall and garden along the Marble River, similar to the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, where the names of all those known to have died in the outbreak were read out by a police officer on a podium.

"Bescot, George. Birch, Gary. Bowler, Tim. Brown, Sheila..."

The civilians stood facing the wall, heads hung low, listening for the names. As they were read out, a young girl cried as her father's name was read. A man standing beside her comforted her.

Meanwhile, standing behind the police officer, the survivors of the Arklay Mountain incident and the sieges of the police station in Raccoon City looked on. Among them were Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, who were now the leaders of the newly reformed S.T.A.R.S., as well as being senior members of the R.P.D. Other figures standing there were Leon Kennedy, Rebecca Chambers, Barry Burton and Carlos Oliveira, who, as well as Billy Coen, had been drafted into the police department. As the final name was read out, Jill, Barry and Chris turned and marched towards the flag pole, where the Star Spangled Banner of the United States was flying at half- mast. Jill lowered the flag and Chris and Barry, both in S.T.A.R.S ceremonial uniform, consisting of navy blue trousers (navy blue skirts for female officers), black shoes with black laces, and navy blue shirts which had black epaulettes with a gold border, and a S.T.A.R.S badge on the right sleeve. The R.P.D badge was on the left sleeve. Barry and Chris folded the flag and carried it past the crowd and placed it at the midpoint of the wall. It was a ceremony that has taken place since the rebuilding of the city was complete in 2001. Every September 25th at 9:25am, the time the last missile hit the ground, the city gathers at the memorial to pay their respects to those who died in that tragic accident. Every September 27th, the day the zombies killed the last of the police officers holed up in the police station, the police officers of the R.P.D stand at the monument in the police station, which has replaced the statue of the lady with the jug in the main hall, and remember the S.T.A.R.S members who died at Spencer Mansion and the police officers that died trying to save Raccoon City from the various monsters that populated the city. This ceremony differs from the civilian ceremony in that the Secretary of State turns up and that only police officers and their families may attend.

When Jill, Chris and Barry returned to their places, Carlos, Kevin Ryman and Richard Aiken fired three shots into the air like at a military funeral, on the command of Leon. The officers saluted, stood to attention, and relaxed. The civilians split up and headed back to their homes. The police officers headed back to their cars and back to the police station. Jill and Leon were still standing at the wall as the others left. Chris leant out of his car window and called to them.

"Hey! Are you coming?"

"We'll be back soon Chris" Jill called. "Leon and I have something we need to do here first."

"Ok then. Take all the time you need. I'll call if anything urgent comes up."

Jill and Leon waved as Chris drove off. Leon reached under his chair and picked up two bouquets of flowers. Jill reached under her chair and picked up just one. They made their way to opposite ends of the wall. Leon found the names he was looking for and placed the flowers in line with their names: Annette Birkin and William Birkin. Sherry moved in with Leon and Claire just after the government let her go on her 14th birthday and she had been adopted by them. Leon placed the flowers down on behalf of his adoptive daughter as Sherry was working in a school as a trainee history teacher in Raccoon City. Jill meanwhile had found the name she was looking for right at the end of the wall. She put the flowers down and saluted the name: Sergeant Mikhail Victor. The man who saved her life by sacrificing his own to let Jill and Carlos escape Nemesis on the tram during the outbreak. She looked up the wall at Leon who was standing with his head held low. After a minute, he looked down at Jill, and signalled that it was time to go. They climbed in to an unmarked car and headed back to the rebuilt police station, which looked exactly the same as the old one, much to the annoyance of Kevin, Leon and Jill, who found it hard to return at first because the ghosts of their fallen colleagues echoed the precinct at night.

They pulled into the underground car park and made their way up to the main hall, where they arrived just in time to see members of the S.P.F, as well as the S.T.A.R.S member that accompanied them to apprehend a criminal, struggling with him.

"Hey! Settle down! Just do as we say and this won't get any worse for you!" The S.T.A.R.S member shouted, and kicked the criminal in the back of the knee, causing him to fall over.

"You cops are all the same," the criminal replied grudgingly, "always arresting people for nothing, just wanting to get statistics."

"I could hardly call armed robbery and murder nothing, pal." The officer shoved the criminal a bit further towards the door where Leon and Jill were standing. What the S.T.A.R.S member didn't realise is that the criminal, knowing the S.T.A.R.S member was distracted, managed to grab the knife out the thigh holster and was able to cut the S.T.A.R.S member's leg. The officer shouted, and fell to the floor in pain. The criminal dropped the knife and tried to run, but was stopped when a S.P.F member hit him with a tazer gun, incapacitating him. Some police officers ran over to pick the criminal up and escorted him to the holding cells, with the other members of the S.P.F team behind. Jill and Leon rushed to the S.T.A.R.S member's aid. He started to stand, helped by Leon.

"Wait a second..." Leon began. "Are you the new guy? When did you start?"

"Next Monday," he said, grimacing.

"So you must be Brian MacFarlane." Leon smiled, realising who the man was. He introduced himself and Jill and exchanged handshakes before helping Brian make his way back up to the S.T.A.R.S office on the western side of the first floor.

Brian is tall man, standing over six foot one in height, and is taller than all of the other S.T.A.R.S members except Barry. He towers over Jill, even when she is wearing high heels, and is 3 inches taller than Leon. He is an incredibly well built man as well, and with all the protective clothing of the S.T.A.R.S uniform on, he's someone you certainly don't want to meet on a dark night in an alley. He keeps his short brown hair gelled forward, with the fringe up, and sometimes wears lightly tinted sunglasses while out in the field, with his young handsome looks making him look a much more friendly person than he first appears to be. Jill was the first to comment on his large physique.

"You're certainly a big guy. Have you done anything else besides law enforcement? Military, Security?"

"Just military" he told her, limping up the stairs, using the banister to support himself because of his stab wound. They walked round the corner and on the left hand side was the S.T.A.R.S office. Leon opened the door and showed Brian in. The room was larger than the old S.T.A.R.S office, so it could accommodate a couple of extra desks, and at the back through a set of doors were showers and changing facilities, with separate female ones, as well as a medical room where members injured in the line of duty could be patched up by S.T.A.R.S' resident medic. As they entered, Leon called for medical assistance.

"Rebecca! Bring a med kit in here! Stab wound to the leg!" Rebecca came rushing in and helped Brian into the small medical room that she worked in and he was sat down on the bed. Brian watched as she opened several drawers containing a selection of gauzes and bandages as well as a grabbing a small bag with other medical equipment in it. She was shorter than Brian, about six inches shorter than him, and had a slim build but there was a bit of muscle on her, and he thought she was rather pretty. She possessed short brown hair that looked soft to the touch, like something a person would love to sleep on and her face had delicate features, including dark blue eyes that were accented with a small touch of eyeliner and a minute amount of foundation and lip gloss on her face and lips. Rebecca had since changed from her ceremonial outfit and into her S.T.A.R.S uniform, but was without her Kevlar vest. Rebecca grabbed a pair of scissors and got straight to work

"What happened?" She asked in her usual friendly, polite voice, putting on some rubber gloves and cutting the leg of the trousers off before using antiseptic wipe on his thigh to clean the wound.

"I got knifed" He explained. Kicking himself over letting himself mess up on his first day.

"Don't feel bad about it. We all make mistakes. If he hadn't been wearing handcuffs he might have got that knife in deeper. But it shouldn't need stitching up. I'll put a dressing on it to stop it getting infected and you'll just need to take it easy for a bit." She pulled out a bandage and wrapped it tight around his thigh. "There. All done, you're good to go." She stood up, as did Brian, and Rebecca gave him her trademark thumbs up.

"Thanks. What's your name again?" Rebecca told him what it was, while Brian introduced himself  
"Injured on your first day on the job huh? I was shot on my first assignment, in that mansion in the mountains, by my own captain. He indirectly killed my team mates as well" Rebecca gestured to the large pictures that hung from the wall by the door to the hallway, of men standing in S.T.A.R.S uniform with a large American Flag hanging behind them, each one standing tall, proud and smiling: "Edward, Kevin, Forest, Enrico, Joseph, Kenny and Brad..."  
"I'm sorry..." Brian didn't really know what to say

"It's ok." Rebecca smiled. She took him by the hand to help him to his feet and helped him back into the office.

"Well, I'd better get back to work. Lots of things need to be done back there." She shook hands with Brian and headed back into the medical room. As she reached the door she turned around. "Was nice to meet you."  
"It was nice to meet you too", Brian replied. Jill came back into the room, sporting her S.T.A.R.S uniform, minus the bullet resistant armour, so all she was wearing was her sky blue shirt and navy blue combat trousers with black boots.

"You two seemed to get on pretty well." She laughed. Brian just smiled, still seeming rather shy.

"This is your desk", said Jill, pointing. It's right next to mine, so if there are any problems, I'll be nearby. That big one at the front is Chris Redfield's, and then next to Leon's desk is Richard Aiken's and over there by the medical room door is Barry Burton's. He's the Bravo Team Captain, same way Chris Redfield is Alpha Team's captain, also yours. I think that's everything. You have any questions you need answering?" Brian thought for a second.

"Yeah, there is one. What do we do when there aren't any calls coming in?"

"When there's no paperwork to be done, you're free to walk around the precinct, get a bite to eat, visit the firing range, and go for a run round the grounds and so on. It just stops us being cooped up in here all day really. It would be a good opportunity to meet the other S.T.A.R.S members and know the layout of the station."

Brian thought that he should really get on with that paperwork for the suspect downstairs. In his head, he felt like he could work things out without having to ask for help, but at the same time he was scared of making another monumental screw up on his first day on the job. At least it was Saturday tomorrow, and he didn't need to get up.

"I've got a meeting with Chris and the Commander. The work never stops for us round here. Catch you later" Jill left the S.T.A.R.S office, closing the door behind her.

Brian took a processing form out of the desk drawer and immediately started filling in the boxes. There were too many charges to fit in to one box, so he took a piece of A4 lined paper and started to fill in all the charges that the fugitive was arrested for:

Robbery,

Arson,

Rape (at least 5 counts)

Drug trafficking,

Prostitution,

Accessory to Murder of the 1st degree (30 separate counts)

Driving without a license,

Driving while license has been revoked,

Driving under the influence of cocaine,

Driving under the influence of alcohol,

Possession of an unlicensed firearm,

Using a firearm in a public place,

Extortion,

Bribery

Assault with a deadly weapon (fourteen counts)

Assault on a police officer,

Attempted murder of a police officer.

"I think that's all of them" Brian thought out loud, and filled in the rest of the form, stapling it to the A4 paper. He stood up, limped to Chris' desk and put the file in the 'in' tray like Jill asked. He put his bullet resistant vest on his office chair, left the S.T.A.R.S office and started to explore the precinct.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

RAF Station Waddington, England. November 14th 2001- 1040:

"I don't understand how he's managed to survive such catastrophic injuries" A doctor sighed as he looked over the injuries. "I'm told his right femur actually entered the pelvic joint."

"Yes, doctor. and he suffered severe internal bleeding as a result. He's stable, but whether he'll walk again is another story. The life support machine is off. He's breathing all by himself."

"Turn it back on." The doctor ordered. "If he wakes up I want to see what kind of a mental state he is in..."

Raccoon City Police Department. September 25th 2004- 1104:

Brian looked left, then right, and made his decision on which direction to go. He chose the left path, as he had come in through from the right. There was a pair of double doors at the end of the hall, which he walked through, holding it for the various officers that were coming and going. In this small reception area were a door to a set of offices, which were used by the rest of S.T.A.R.S Bravo Team (Barry was the only one to share his desk with the Alphas, as he was Bravo's leader), some vending machines, one of which was being hit angrily by a frustrated officer whose selection had got stuck. On the right hand side was a large wooden door, a sign above it reading 'The Ed Mitchell Library'.

"Looks interesting", Brian thought, and entered the library.

The library was no different from the one in the old precinct, aside from the fact there was now no second floor to it, and the sliding bookcases which formed some sort of puzzle when Leon was last there were replaced by fixed ones. Officers and civilians alike (as it as also a public library) were sat at the various tables drinking coffee and reading various books on subjects from gun maintenance to the history of the NFL. Some listened to their MP3 players while others preferred to read in silence with a cup of coffee. One of the librarians approached Brian.

"Hello, can I help you?" She asked in a friendly voice. Brian thought for a moment.

"I'm just exploring" He said with a touch of shyness. He noticed a door at the other end of the library and pointed. "Where does that door lead to?" The librarian looked at it as well.

"That leads to the balcony that runs all the way around the side and back walls of the main hall of the precinct. You can use it to get to the evidence room, the canteen and Commander Chamberlain's office is over there as well. There's a set of stairs in the main hall you can use to get back to the ground floor. Now, is there anything else?" Brian remembered Jill mentioning a meeting.

"Yeah, I suppose I need to look for Chris Redfield, The S.T.A.R.S captain. I need to meet him in person and tell him I've arrived."

"If you go back to the ground floor and ask Cindy or Rita. They should help you find him."

"Thank you very much ma'am" said Brian politely, and he limped through the door.

On the other side, he looked over the balcony to see the officers of the R.P.D scurrying around like ants in an ant hill. Brian hobbled down the stairs and approached the reception desk. A young woman with blonde hair tied back in a ponytail was working at a computer. When she saw Brian, she immediately stopped what she was doing and moved her chair over to where he was. Instead of saying hello or asking if he needed anything, the first thing she did was praise him for taking in the most notorious criminal in Raccoon City history. Brian blushed.

"Thanks, I guess. I'm looking for Chris Redfield. I know he was supposed to be in a meeting with Jill Valentine, I was just wondering if they were out yet."

"They're not scheduled to finish until twelve, sir. You'll just have to wait till then." Brian looked at his watch.

"Another hour then... Ok, I'll keep exploring then I suppose, thanks anyway." He strolled, more fluidly than before; now the pain of his leg was wearing off into the east wing of the station.

Like the library, and much of the layout of the rest of the precinct for that matter, the east wing was relatively unchanged since the events of 1998. Of course, it was once again tidy, with no broken glass littering the place, and no bodies of officers pecked to death by infected crows lying on the floor, and the walls were no longer stained with the brains and blood of the undead that Leon Kennedy, Jill Valentine, Carlos Oliveira and Kevin Ryman left in their wake. With the rebuilding of the city to look more or less exactly as it did before the outbreak, it's as if the city was never destroyed in the first place. The Government had done an excellent job, even if most of the civilians and surviving officers found it a little unnerving. Rounding a corner there were two doors: One led to the main interrogation room, and the one furthest from Brian's position was the room that looked into the main interrogation room. Looking through the window in one of the doors Brian could see the man he arrested that morning getting a grilling from the officers in charge. "I'd hate to be him right now", he thought aloud to himself. Carrying on through the hallway he saw another door with a sign saying 'Night watchmen's quarters'. The R.P.D always has at least 4 men on standby in the building at night just in case officers, S.P.F, or, in extreme cases, S.T.A.R.S, need to respond to an emergency. To the right of the night watchmen's room was a lift that went to the second floor, and directly opposite that was a set of stairs that led down into the basement. Brian took hold of the banister, and helped himself down.

The basement's décor was so much different to the rest of the station. It had a much more modern feel to it, and gave the impression of being more of a subway station than a police precinct. The walls were painted white in the bottom quarter, and blue in the top three quarters, with a thick navy blue stripe painted where the colours met. A proper ceiling had been put in place so the pipes were no longer exposed, and laminate tiles were put down on the floor, replacing the concrete one of the old precinct. Ventilation tunnels and air conditioning ducts lined the bottom of the walls to keep the air fresh. Rounding a corner Brian found that the path split left and right. The left path led off towards the morgue and weapons room, while the right led to the station's car park. These didn't really interest him, so he headed back upstairs to outside the night watchmen's room, where he used the lift to get to the second floor. Straight ahead of him was Commander Chamberlain's office, which before the outbreak was the thinking ground of Brian Irons, and to the right was the evidence room that had various officers coming and going with various guns and other items to be stored in there. Some of the officers said hello to Brian, as they were with him when they arrested the wanted felon that morning.

Heading left, there was a door leading into a set of toilets. Feeling the urge to go, Brian stepped in. Standing at the urinal, he heard the door open, and a large man with short blonde hair stood next to him. The blonde haired officer had a kind face and like Brian was the handsome sort as well, the most noticeable feature about him being the scars on his left arm. He had obviously been injured badly while on duty. He was wearing an orange short sleeved shirt with the S.T.A.R.S patch on each arm, which like the ones being worn by Brian, Rebecca, Leon and Jill, fit snugly around his torso. He was also wearing black combat trousers and black boots. He noticed the S.T.A.R.S patch on Brian's olive green t-shirt.

"I thought you were starting on Monday", he laughed.

"The commander let me start today" Brian replied.

"Met many of the other members yet?" The other S.T.A.R.S member asked.

"Jill, Leon, Rebecca... I'm waiting around for Chris to come out of his meeting so he knows I'm here." Brian zipped up his trousers and went to wash his hands. The S.T.A.R.S member that was standing next to him laughed.

"I can guarantee you that you will NEVER catch Chris after a meeting. He always gets out as fast as possible and goes straight for that hot dog van that's parked a bit further up Ennerdale Street." Brian sighed a little. His wait had been for nothing. "I tell you," the officer continued, "he's all over that thing like a fly on shit. If you want to meet up with him, it's best that you go there instead of hanging around here. I'll go with you if you want. We should get to know each other better if we're going to be working together." The orange- clad officer zipped his trousers and washed his hands too, cursing the fact that there was a distinct lack of paper towels in there with which to dry his hands with. He gave his hands a wipe on his trousers and extended his hand to Brian. "Richard Aiken- pleased to meet ya." Brian introduced himself and apologised for his slow pace and slight limp. He explained what happened and Richard was very sympathetic.

"I heard about that. Bad luck kid, I suppose it's better than being nearly eaten by a giant snake." He put his hand on Brian's shoulder as Brian had a confused look on his face. He clearly did not know what Richard and the others had been through, although he had a vague idea as to what happened to the city a couple of months after Richard had been horrifically injured. "Come on, let's grab some munch... Erm... I'll let you borrow my three quarters, you're gonna look stupid with your trousers like that"

Brian and Richard left the precinct through the main double doors at the front of the main hall. They took a right, through the gardens and out on to Ennerdale Street, the street on which the precinct stood. About a hundred yards further up the road was a blue trailer, with two women serving hot dogs, burgers and fries, as well as various drinks. Brian and Richard sat down on a bench and waited for Chris to show up.

"Chris always comes here because they give him stuff for free. They do for all the S.T.A.R.S members, y'know. Do you want anything?"

"I'll just have a cheeseburger, with a load of salad... and a coke, thanks." Richard got up and went over to the hotdog van.

"Morning Sarah", he said cheerfully, and gave her his order.  
"Very well Richard." The short, brown haired girl replied, "I'll have those up for you in a second." She saw Brian sitting at the bench. "Ordering for a friend today? You know it's only S.T.A.R.S members that get free food you know. We can't have you cheating the system." Richard assured the girl that Brian was a S.T.A.R.S member and asked if Chris had been by yet. Sarah hadn't seen him all day, only having Carlos and Billy when they came for their bacon and egg rolls like they do every Friday morning. She turned to her friend behind the grill and asked him if she had seen Chris. The response a mere shaking of the head.

"That's ok then", Richard smiled, "It's that he doesn't know the new guy has arrived yet and this is the first place he comes to after a meeting." He took his and Brian's lunches and he went back over to the bench, handing Brian's lunch to him.

"Thanks a lot." Brian placed his lunch beside him and opened his bottle of coke. "Here's to working together", He smiled, raising the bottle.

"Yeah, I'll drink to that", Richard laughed, doing the same. They ate their lunches talking about various subjects, getting to know each other a bit better, just killing time waiting for Chris to come for his lunch.

"What made you choose Raccoon City? Richard asked, taking a bite of his burger.

"Well..." Brian began, "It was the closest special tactics unit to me that I didn't have to move house for, and it's also a unit that's quite short staffed as well. I'm actually glad to come here. The people are nice and the city interests me a lot." Richard took a sip of his drink.

"Really; how?"

"It's just everything this town has been through- I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that. As well as all the secrets the place was hiding. When I was in the army we just heard rumours, but we were able to get a look at the pictures taken by that journalist that got out... Ashcroft I think her surname was. It just really interests me how a town like this could be turned into hell on earth and have had as many survivors of the outbreak as there were. I won't pry if it's too much for you guys.

"You wouldn't get much out of me about the city during the September of 1998", Richard replied, explaining what happened to him "Chris has encouraged us to talk about it. Said it helps us cope. Jill and Rebecca are still having repercussions though; although Jill, Leon, Kevin and Carlos will be able to tell you more than me". He looked at his watch. "12pm..." He looked up and laughed. "Right on time..." Chris was heading up the road, quite quickly in his white S.T.A.R.S t-shirt and black combat trousers and black boots. He was obviously hungry, and he waited impatiently in the queue. When he finally got to the front, the girl at the counter looked at her watch.

"Same time every Monday and Friday Chris... How do you do it?"

"I've always been good at timekeeping", He laughed. He was asked if he wanted to the 'usual Friday lunch' and Chris replied with a cheesy grin. The girl handed him a foot long hotdog and a bottle of Sprite. As Chris turned away, the girl called him and pointed to where Richard and Brian were sitting. Chris put his bottle in his pocket and headed over to Richard and Brian's bench, taking some bites of his hot dog. "Sarah said you were waiting for me." Richard and Brian stood up.

"Yeah", Richard replied, "Our new guy arrived in town today." Chris swallowed another bite of his hot dog and shook hands with Brian.

"Yeah, Jill told me just before the meeting started. I hear you've already arrested Raccoon City's most notorious criminal. Good job."

"Thank you, sir" Brian smiled.

"Please", Chris blushed, "Just Chris. Titles make my skin crawl." He took another few bites of his hot dog and put the wrapper in the bin. "You need to come with me, there's a few things we need to sort out."

Back at the police station, Chris led Brian into the basement, where the S.T.A.R.S storage room was. Using his S.T.A.R.S ID card, Chris was able to open the door. Inside were rows upon rows of assault rifles, sub machine guns, hand guns, grenades and ammunition. Brian stopped and stood in awe at what he was seeing. Another door led into a room full of clothing, which was full of Kevlar jackets, combat trousers, boots, and shirts.

"What are we doing here?" Brian asked.

"We're getting you some new clothes", Chris replied. "Every S.T.A.R.S member has a uniform that suits their specific role and chooses their own weapons. Plus, olive green shirts are plain horrible, we should really stop the Commander ordering them."

"It was what he gave me. He said he'd set me up with equipment seeing as you were unavailable this morning."

"I know the Commander means well", Chris continued, "but he doesn't know what he's on about a lot of the time when it comes to matters such as heavy weaponry." He finished his rant. "Go into the clothing section there, and choose some threads. Then pick out an assault rifle, and a sub machine gun. The guns and armour will be kept in the storage lockers upstairs. I'll be waiting in the office for you, where I'll have your storage locker ready. Also, there's a workbench over there that you can use to etch your name tag to your vest and customise your weapons... Have fun!" Chris left, leaving Brian alone.

Brian looked around at the various pieces of clothing. There were all sorts of colours of shirts and all types of Kevlar jackets to choose from. There were also five types of trouser colours to choose- blue urban camouflage, woodland camouflage, olive green, dark blue and black. Brian laughed to himself as he picked up a pair of black trousers and put them on; with some difficulty it has to be said, as his leg was thickly wrapped in bandage. Next, he thought about what colour t-shirt he was going to have. Whatever colour it was, it would have to fit with the black of his trousers. "Aha!" Brian exclaimed, "There we go". He pulled a sky blue shirt out of the box, took off the cellophane wrapping, and put it on, the S.T.A.R.S badge displaying proudly on each sleeve, and the crisp feeling of the brand new shirt filling Brian with a warm feeling. Of course, Brian wouldn't last too long in a hostile environment without protection, so he headed over to where the Kevlar jackets were kept. Looking through the various kinds he tried to find one that would fit with the weapons he was going to choose. He needed something that he could keep at least 2 extra magazines for each weapon, and something that would fit snugly round him, so he could stay quiet if he had to infiltrate a building stealthily, a skill that he felt was one of his strongest. He found exactly that on the bottom shelf: A black Kevlar jacket, as well as finding some black knee pads. Next to the pads he found a pair of black tactical gloves, which fit better than the pair he was currently wearing. "The Commander DOESN'T know what he's on about", Brian thought, realising just how badly equipped he was that morning. "This feels so much more comfortable." He stopped and looked in a mirror to admire himself. The look was perfect... or was it? Something was missing. He moved his watch to his right wrist and added a sweatband to his left, as well as replacing his brown boots with a pair of black ones. He thought it would be, given his military background, appropriate to wear a blue beret, with the S.T.A.R.S badge on the wearer's right side. Now it was perfect. Now: To the weapons...

There were just so many guns to choose from. Brian knew that it would take forever to work out which big guns he'd want to use, so he started small and worked his way up. The handgun section was full of silver and black Beretta handguns. There were also desert eagles, revolvers- both big and small, Glock 17s and 18s, and various H&K model handguns that he had never seen before. He reached out and took a black desert eagle, his favourite kind of handgun. As luck would have it, it was already loaded, in a holster and had a spare clip sitting beside it. He checked that the gun was on the safety, strapped the holster to his right thigh, put the spare magazine in his trouser pouch, and slid the gun neatly into the holster. Chris didn't mention a handgun as part of the equipment list, but the Desert Eagle was such a tempting choice he couldn't help but take one for use. Sub Machine guns were next on the agenda, and again, he was spoilt for choice. The usual police issue MP5s were there, as well as the Austrian Steyr AUG SMG. Sitting in between the two was a smaller gun, which had its clips loaded into the top of the gun, rather than under it, in Perspex cases so the user could check the ammunition levels. It was certainly interesting, so Brian picked it up, and looked down the barrel. It was a light gun, with a strange design, with the trigger towards the front rather than the back, and it looked like it was designed to be used as a self defence weapon, a strange role for something fully automatic. Looking at the side of the gun, there was an inscription that read 'Fabrique Nationale de Herstal P90- Made in Belgium'. Underneath the SMG rack was a wide array of upgrades. Among which were a laser pointer and flashlight, which Brian picked up and clipped to the bottom of the gun. He also attached a sling to the P90, and adjusted it so he could sling it behind him when he didn't need to use it, and carry other guns without it getting in the way. He also attached a small red dot scope to the P90 for good measure. As well as taking a spare clip.

Turning round he saw the assault rifles and shotguns. A shotgun would be useless in open spaces, so an assault rifle would be what he would need. He looked high and low. There was a Colt M16 sitting on the top shelf, with its little brother the M4 next to it. Below them was a strange looking rifle painted green and black. Its clip loaded into the gun behind the trigger as opposed to the in front of trigger loading that was employed by the M4 and M16. Brian picked up the strange looking gun. On the main body of the gun was the words 'L85A2- Made at BAE Systems Land Systems Munitions & Ordnance, Nottingham, United Kingdom'. "Hmm... A British rifle..." Brian was impressed. Closer inspection of the L85 revealed that an ACOG scope had been fitted as standard, as well as a laser pointer and flashlight. "Perfect!" He exclaimed. He placed both his machine guns on the workbench and sat down at the computer. Now all he had to do was to personalise his vest with his name. The template was already preloaded on the computer. He looked at it; the layout had 'R.P.D' at the top, the person's name in the middle, then 'S.T.A.R.S' under that. Brian placed a black piece of fabric under the sewing machine, changed the name to 'MacFarlane' and started the machine. The machine got to work, and sewed the letters into the fabric in a fine white thread, which went perfectly with the black of his vest. When the machine finished, Brian admired his handiwork. The fabric was then attached to the vest with Velcro, and Brian looked extremely happy with what he had chosen for his uniform. He donned the vest again, picked up his P90 and slung that behind him, grabbed the L85 and left the room, feeling the weight of all the equipment. He had been off the battlefield for a while, but with all of this kit on he felt as though he had never been away. Backtracking up the stairs to the main precinct everyone gave him a strange look, thinking that the S.T.A.R.S members were heading off on a big mission. He did feel strange walking round heavily armed when there was no danger present. "Just moving some weapons upstairs" he said reassuringly, but awkwardly.

Whilst walking the hallways of the police station, Brian could not help the fact one single word was going round and round in his head. He had no idea why it was there, all he knew is that he was just the new guy, the probie. But it was starting to grate on him and upon looking around the place he could understand why. The word was _everywhere_.

S.T.A.R.S

S.T.A.R.S: The Special Tactics and Rescue Service. Raccoon City's elite. They were like a S.W.A.T team, but they had access to bigger and better kit, and they NEVER failed. Funding for a unit of that size in a city of that size confused people, but in the past they received funding from some shady people...

The original unit was set up in 1996 as part of then-mayor Michael Warren's 'Bright 21st Century for Raccoon City' a project that was largely funded by the Umbrella Corporation, a large pharmaceutical company that had its headquarters in the city and contributed to 80% of the city's economy. Umbrella provided the funds for weapons, equipment and helicopters as well as giving the teams access to its medical products for free. The team combined military trained personnel with civilian scientists, allowing the unit to participate in anti-terror and anti-drug operations. This zero-tolerance policy to organised and violent crime quickly turned the city around.

However, in 1998, that all changed. Bizarre murders began happening in the Arklay Mountains, and the police chief ordered Bravo Team to investigate. Getting take-off clearance from the local dispatchers was the last anyone heard from them, as the helicopter crashed in the Arklay Forest. Hours later, Alpha Team left for the last known position of their comrades' transport. Upon finding the helicopter, they were attacked on the ground and they ran for the safety of a nearby mansion. Joseph Frost was killed in the initial attack and pilot Brad Vickers had flown off, leaving them stranded. Captain Albert Wesker and his team of Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine and Barry Burton split up and began to search the mansion. The bodies of Kenneth Sullivan, Forest Speyer and Enrico Marini were found. Kevin Dooley's body was in the wreckage of the helicopter, although Edward Dewey's body was never found. Rebecca Chambers and a heavily injured Richard Aiken were rescued, and more and more revelations came to light: The mansion was owned by Umbrella, and the murders had occurred because of a mutagenic virus they had created. People killed by the monsters rose as zombies and they had once lived within the grounds of the mansion. After more exploration and dodging of the mansion's many traps, they found themselves in Umbrella's secret labs where Albert Wesker revealed his true motives. Umbrella had caused this mess. S.T.A.R.S were knowingly sent in as bait for the purposely created monsters in the labs that had escaped. Wesker would collect the data and sell it on. Umbrella's prize specimen, the T-002 Tyrant, was released by Wesker and put down by the survivors after it had killed the S.T.A.R.S captain. The mansion was set to self destruct and the survivors escaped aboard Vickers' helicopter, returning to Raccoon City bloodied and tired, but nevertheless in one piece.

This led Chris and the others to believe that the funding for S.T.A.R.S was just to get them equipped enough for when they eventually had to face Umbrella's creations, and that S.T.A.R.S was just Umbrella's little guinea pigs, given that Wesker was in charge. The murders in the mountains were the perfect excuse to send them in. Later investigation later unveiled that the funding was mostly a bribe by Umbrella to keep the Mayor and the Chief of Police out of Umbrella's affairs, both parties being paid upwards of $250,000 per month to keep quiet. Umbrella was shut down in 2000 after it was revealed they had indeed caused the Raccoon City Outbreak and in the modern era, S.T.A.R.S gets its funding from more 'legitimate' sources. Bell Aerospace provided them with brand new helicopters, Ford gave them some modified Crown Victoria Interceptors and Colt supplied them with similar rifles that were being used in Afghanistan. The government also provided increased funding, due to the fact that should another horrific incident occur like that in Raccoon City in the late 90s, S.T.A.R.S' central location within Colorado could mean they could be anywhere in the United States quickly.

Of course, Brian didn't know the true story, he was completely oblivious to it all as were most people. Details of the events that occurred back then all depended on who you spoke to, or which internet article you read. But maybe it was best that the general public didn't know the whole story, even if it was now common knowledge who and what caused the outbreak. What the general public did _not_ know however, is other events that happened leading up to the outbreak: The murder of William Birkin, the Ecliptic Express train, Lisa Trevor, Nemesis and the Tyrant sent to retrieve the G-Virus. Brian on the other hand, was just a cop... Even if he did know, he was the sort of man who would defiantly say he didn't want to get involved...

Chris and the rest of alpha team, Jill, Richard, Leon, and Rebecca, as well as Carlos from Bravo team who had stopped by, were all sitting in the S.T.A.R.S office, anxiously waiting Brian's return.

"He's certainly been down there a long time." Chris said, looking at his watch.

"Well, if you would just get rid of most of those guns down there, then maybe people wouldn't take so long. Besides, he's only been down there an hour, which is a lot less than Carlos spent when he was down there", Leon continued.

"Hey, come on man!" Carlos protested, "Choosing the right equipment could give you an edge in the field. It's all about what you feel comfortable with". With that, the handle of the door turned, the door swung open, and Brian walked into the room, trying not to limp and heavily armed. The other S.T.A.R.S members stared at him.

"Hello" He said causally and removed the vest and weaponry and put them in his storage locker. "What do you think?"

"I think that's a pretty good set-up you've got there; you've even taken the guns no one else wanted." Leon replied.

"Yeah, and the colour scheme's great... Even if it does look a lot like Jill's uniform" Carlos joked.

"I just wanted a change from Army Green" Brian laughed.

"Anyway", Chris retorted, "At least the kid's had a change in clothes, Carlos; you're wearing the same shit you had on six years ago." He was right. Carlos was wearing the same colours he had on during the Raccoon City outbreak, right down to the same Kevlar armour, where the stitching of the original Umbrella logo was still visible.

Chris approached Brian, handing him a leather wallet which when Brian opened revealed his S.T.A.R.S badge and ID, and a S.T.A.R.S custom Beretta 92 handgun was also placed into his hands, a handgun that is standard issue and only carried by the members of the special tactics team.

"You're going to be married to that handgun now" Rebecca laughed. "Just don't lose it." The other members agreed with her. "We've all had extra bits added to ours that make it our own." She took Brian's gun and compared it with her own.

The final version of the 'Samurai Edge' hosts a wide range of features not present on the standard 92F. The grip panes are enlarged and extended below the magazine foot, and consist of two panels; the outer being made of wood, while the inner is synthetic, made to look like carbon fibre. This grip design also requires replacing the hammer spring cap which normally would have a lanyard ring on the end. Further modifications include a heavier Brigadier slide that allows it to withstand the use of higher pressure rounds, target sights, an extended slide catch, and a stainless steel barrel. Joe Kendo, the designer, also emblazoned each Pistol with the S.T.A.R.S. logo, placed upon the left side of the slide below the ejection port and on a medallion in the centre of each grip panel. The medallion on Brian's gun was a standard S.T.A.R.S medallion, a smaller version of the S.T.A.R.S logo with a dark blue background in the centre of the medallion. In contrast, Rebecca has this dark blue replaced with green while Jill has a much lighter blue on hers, as well as a silver trigger that is also present on Chris' model.

"I don't think there's much else to say other than that you are now a full member of S.T.A.R.S." Chris announced, with applause from everyone in the room following. He looked at the clock above his desk. "And if none of you have any more paperwork to do I guess you can all go back to your significant others."

"Good, if I'm home later than 5:30 one more time Claire's hormones will run rampant and rip my head off" Leon exclaimed. Richard nudged Brian.  
"Leon's married to Chris's kid sister", he whispered. Brian made a facial expression as if to say 'oh right' but nothing came out.

Raccoon City Police Department S.T.A.R.S Office, September 25th- 1600

As the male members of S.T.A.R.S were getting changed back into their civilian clothes, Carlos asked his new comrade a difficult question:

"Are you gonna come down to Jack's Bar tonight for a few drinks?" Brian closed his locker and looked at him.

"Yeah, sure... Er... Where is it?"

"It's down Jack Street, funnily enough" Richard continued. It's our favourite drinking hole. Good food, good entertainment; just a great place to kick back and relax after a long week."

"Sounds fun," Brian nodded. "I'll bring money."

"That's what we like to hear. See you there at 7:30", Carlos smiled, putting his fleece on and leaving the changing room. Chris was next to leave, closely followed by Leon and Richard. Brian was the last to leave, as he had trouble getting his jeans back on with the bandage in the way. Eventually, he was back in civilian clothing. He put his leather jacket on and left the changing room himself. He entered the S.T.A.R.S office just as Jill was leaving, with her claiming she would definitely see him later. Rebecca came out of the medical room holding a file. She too was in civilian clothing: Jeans, red t-shirt with the slogan, 'I only love NY as a friend', and a pair of red low cut Converse shoes.

"Need a ride home?" She asked.

"Well... If you don't mind driving all the way to Stoneville." He joked.

"You live in Stoneville?" She asked with shock, "That's 40 miles away! Having to make that journey into town every day will shatter you! And with your leg like it is, well, it's best said that walking to and from a train station isn't gonna do you much good. You're gonna stay down my place for a while, and I'm not gonna take 'no' for an answer." Brian didn't know what to say. He didn't want to be too much trouble, and didn't just want to crash at someone's house on his first day in town. But on the other hand, Rebecca was a medic, and if she was a medic she could look after him, and that should mean that he should not have to go to a hospital. The thought of lying in a hospital left his head as soon as it had entered. The mere thought of being in hospital made him want to punch a wall or fire his 9mm through his temple.

"Not going to a hospital... Never going to a hospital again... Not after what I went through" he muttered to himself. Rebecca didn't hear it too well, which was probably a good thing. Being open about something like that was not something Brian wanted to do any time soon.

"If those are my doctor's orders, then I guess I'll have to." He sighed sarcastically...

Rebecca pulled her car up to her apartment block and the pair climbed out. They walked inside and Rebecca headed up to the landlord's window. She knocked on it and a short fat man walked over to the window, his white vest covered in chicken grease and his blue jeans tattered.

"What?" He asked rudely.

"This is Brian. He's going to be staying with me for a little while, if that's ok." Rebecca replied. Brian held up his hand to say 'hi'.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just as long as he pays rent, I'm not bothered." The landlord waved them on and closed the shutter on the window.

"What was his problem?" Brian asked.

"Don't mind him." Rebecca responded, pressing the button to the lift. "He's grouchy." The lift opened and they entered. Rebecca pressed the button for the 5th floor. The cheap and tacky music playing in the lift was a tune Brian recognised. He started to tap his foot in time and managed to sing the melody.

"Come on, now baby don't you want to go

Now come on, baby don't you want to go

Back to that same old place,

My sweet home Chicago."

Rebecca looked at him and giggled like a little schoolgirl.

"You don't look like the sort of person who'd be into rhythm and blues." Brian smiled at her.

"I love it. Great driving music" The doors opened and the pair stepped out. Rebecca led Brian down a long hall, which was well kept, with pictures of various landmarks of Raccoon City displaying on the walls. Brian followed, looking at each one.

"This place certainly keeps in with the city's rustic aesthetics"

"Yeah", Rebecca agreed, "It's a nice place, the residents are nice and it's got a nice view of downtown with all the lights on at night. Plus too far in the middle of the city to be considered 'inner city' so the crime rate is really low." She stopped outside a door labelled '520', put a key in the lock and opened the door. She let Brian in and turned on the lights. "Here we are", she said proudly, "Home sweet home." It was a basic apartment layout, with the living room and kitchen joined together. There was a wide screen TV as well as a large comfortable looking sofa, with discarded Ben and Jerry's ice cream tubs on the coffee table.

"Sorry about the mess, I don't have people over very often." Rebecca laughed, dropping her file onto the kitchen table and moving some of the ice cream tubs so Brian could put his leg up and rest it. There were three doors along the back wall. "The one on the far right is the bathroom", she instructed, "The one on the far left is my room, and the one in the middle will be your room." She showed Brian in, and he was surprised to see the room was full of things, such as a bookcase, a desk and a wardrobe, as if the room was lived in. "Ex boyfriend's room", she laughed. "The clothes in the wardrobe might fit you actually if you want to get changed into something for going out later in."

"Didn't he ever come back for his stuff after you kicked him out?" Brian asked, rather confused.

"Restraining orders are marvellous things." Rebecca replied, leaving the room, with no indication of a joke in her voice, and Brian knew that Rebecca was being serious by the way she just dismissed the whole affair in that way and changed the subject so quickly. "There's the kitchen, complete with microwave, oven, sink and fridge. And over there's a girl's best friend- The TV and DVD collection." Brian sat down on the sofa and put his left leg up on the table. Then he remembered the file sitting on Rebecca's kitchen table.

"What's in the file?" He asked nosily.

"Oh, that?" She replied, looking at it. "That's the new drug I'm developing with the hospital. It's a new haemostatic medicine that will be used in hostile areas like Iraq, Afghanistan et cetera. Basically, if someone has a burst artery and spewing blood everywhere, it gets injected into the bloodstream and it will cause the wound to clot and stop the bleeding. It's still a work in progress, so there's no guarantee it will work."

"And I guess you haven't had many volunteers to test it on either", Brian joked. "So what do we do for the next few hours? Just something to take my mind off my leg would be great."

"Well, its Friday night, so I'm never in the mood for cooking", Rebecca replied, picking up the phone, "So I'll just do what I always do." She pressed a button on her phone and put it to her ear, before sitting down next to Brian. "Hey Tony it's Rebecca... Yeah... The usual..."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Outside Jack's Bar: September 25th- 1940:

A cool autumn evening had descended over Raccoon City. Chris, Jill, Richard, Carlos, Brian and Rebecca were standing outside Jack's Bar.

"Where's Leon?" Richard asked.

"Apparently Claire's stopped him going to the bar on a Friday night, because of him 'not spending any time with her anymore now she's pregnant.' Kevin and Billy might be along a little later though", Jill replied. "Rebecca and I are going to go inside, it's freezing out here." Jill was wearing a blue tube top and black miniskirt with brown knee high, high heeled boots, so no wonder she was cold. Rebecca on the other hand hated wearing skirts and was possibly the biggest tomboy anybody could know, as she was dressed in a different jeans and t-shirt combination, this time wearing a pair of skinny dark blue jeans with white trainers and an olive green t-shirt that depicted a disappointed man in a hockey mask and carrying a machete looking at a calender that showed 'Friday 12th'.

"Fine, you never hang out with us anyway while we're in there." Carlos retorted.

"Because the same thing happens every week, you go in there and you and Chris immediately start trying to hit on every girl." Jill argued. She and Rebecca went in, closely followed by the boys.

As the male S.T.A.R.S members entered, all wearing jeans, open collared shirts and jackets, everyone turned from the football game on the TV and stared. Brian was a little confused.

"They're staring... Do they have some sort of problem with us?"

"It's nothing", Chris assured him, "They're like this every week. We just intimidate them slightly because we're cops." He moved ahead of the group to get a seat at a table.

"We're off duty, so calm down... Pricks" Carlos called to the patrons, who immediately got back to what they were doing.

"Or it might be that nearly everyone in here is wearing a Denver Broncos jersey and we're dressed like rejected characters from _CSI Miami_", Brian continued, following Chris to a table in the corner, next to another table where Rebecca and Jill were enjoying a drink. The crowd in the bar roared as the Broncos got a touchdown. Brian leant over to Carlos and whispered:

"What's the probability of me getting pounded if they found out I'm a Patriots fan?"

"Well..." Carlos paused for a moment. "They would probably take you into that bathroom over there, and drive a nail through your dick so that you'll spend the rest of your life pissing out of six different holes." He laughed hysterically, "but seriously, they'd mess you up bad."

"Don't scare the kid", Chris insisted, "anyway, what you having to drink Brian?" Brian looked down at his leg.

"Their cheapest whiskey, thanks", He said simply, handing Chris a five dollar bill.

"You're hitting the hard stuff a little early aren't you?" Richard joked.

"It's not for me... It's for my leg." The group laughed. Richard went up with Chris to get the drinks, while Carlos tried to get a look at the television screen, which was obscured by the many Denver fans that had come into the bar to watch, so he got up and went to the toilet. Chris and Richard came back with the drinks. They all sat down talking and drinking, their various interruptions coming from whenever something happened during the football game. Midway through a conversation, two burly men headed to their table. The first, a scruffy haired man, was wearing baggy jeans and a Metallica t-shirt with black Converse shoes while the other, a short haired man with tattoos down his right arm, wore an open necked shirt and jeans with a pair of casual shoes.

"Hey, Chris!" The scruffy haired one shouted cheerfully over the noise.

"Hey Kevin", Chris shouted back, "I was just gonna get another beer, you want one?"  
"Yeah, I could use one right now. Pretty long day."

"By the way, I don't think you two have met our newest recruit. Kevin, Billy, this is Brian MacFarlane." Billy was the first to shake hands with him.

"A Marine huh?" Brian replied, impressed. He then shook hands with Kevin.

"I'm just an R.P.D officer who got promoted. No special background with me", he said modestly. Richard looked at the door to the toilets.  
"He's certainly been in there a long time" he said with a voice of mock concern.

"Who?" Billy asked.

"Carlos", Richard continued. "He went in there about 15 minutes ago and hasn't come out."

"How much has he had? Beer does tend to go straight through him." Kevin added.

"He hasn't had anything, that's the problem." Richard replied.

As soon as Richard said those words, the door to the toilets was literally taken off its hinges as a man dressed in all black came flying out. The S.T.A.R.S members stood up to get a better view of the man lying on the floor, groaning. The football fans all turned away from the television screen to see what was the commotion was. Carlos followed the man out, holding his neck and looking quite shaken.

"YEAH!" He yelled at the man in a strong Hispanic accent that only appeared when he was angry, "THAT'S HOW WE DO IT IN MY NEIGHBOURHOOD, PENDEJO!" The man climbed to his feet and produced a gun and pointed it at Carlos. Billy and Brian, thinking quickly, attempted to incapacitate the man. Billy grabbed the gun and ended up struggling with the stranger, but the man overpowered him. Billy now ended up having the gun pointed at him, he stood with his hands in the air, but before the strange man could fire, Brian grabbed the gun, ejected the magazine and kicked it across the floor towards Jill. He then threw the black-clad assassin over his shoulder, and before the hit man hit the floor, and while still holding the man's arm, Brian followed it with a flip of his own and landed on him. He got up and looked at the man, who once again was writhing in pain on the floor holding his ribs. Kevin and Brian picked him up, with Richard recovering the gun, while Chris pulled out his badge and held it in the air for all to see.

"Raccoon Police Department business everybody, just get back to your football".

Kevin and Brian carried the man outside and held him up while Chris confronted him.

"What the fuck was all that about?" He asked angrily. The assassin looked at him, but didn't say a word.

"You just tried to kill two S.T.A.R.S members, there has to be a motive."

"Just a job you know", the assassin grunted.

"So you're a pro?" Kevin asked, "Who hired you?" The assassin didn't respond. Chris got really agitated. Brian put some pressure on the assassin's knee with his foot. The man groaned in pain.

"It was some guy called..." The assassin didn't get to finish his sentence, as a gunshot rang out, the bullet going straight through the assassin's head and spraying Kevin and Brian with blood. Kevin wiped the blood off his face and looked up at the building across the street to see a shadowy figure get up from a prone position and head off into the darkness. He immediately let go of the dead assassin and ran for the ladder in the alley beside the sniper's nest. Scurrying up it he looked left and right at the top, but saw no one. He looked over the top of the building at Chris, Brian and now Jill, who had run outside to see what had happened. Kevin called to Chris from the rooftop.

"He's gone!" Chris sighed.

"Shit..." He looked back up at Kevin, "Ok, come down, we'll deal with this tomorrow!" Kevin ran back over to the ladder and climbed down quickly. He then jogged over back to the congregating S.T.A.R.S members who were meeting outside. Rebecca and Carlos were the last to come out, with Carlos holding a pack of frozen peas to his neck.

"What was going on in there?" Chris asked.

"I don't know boss, I was in there taking a slash, and then that guy showed up with his knife like Rambo and tried taking me out." He removed the peas from his neck and gave his neck a rub, before Rebecca put the peas back on and held it tight, signalling for him to keep it there. "I disarmed him of the knife, but then he tried choking me and trying to snap my neck in two. I tell ya, the guy's had some serious training." Chris turned to Jill.

"Jill, call the precinct and have a murder investigation team and forensics team over. We'll get the place sealed off." Jill pulled out her mobile phone out and called the police station on the Night Watchmen's extension. Chris then turned to Billy and Kevin, who was trying

frantically to scrub the blood off his face. "You two, go back into the bar and get everyone out, telling them that this place is a murder scene. Carlos", he continued, "Go home and rest that neck, and take tomorrow off. I'll send someone to your place later for a statement." Jill put her phone back in her jeans pocket.

"There's a team on the way Chris." She confirmed.

"Good. Now, Jill, Brian and Leon will be coming back tomorrow to help in the investigation, Billy, Barry and I will be in the precinct trying to piece together information." He paused for a moment, thinking of anything else to add. "You should all go back home. I'll wait around here for the investigators to show up. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night."

The S.T.A.R.S members parted ways, each saying good night to each other. Rebecca and Brian headed up Jack Street southwards towards the intersection with Cedar Drive. They crossed the road and headed west up Cedar for another 200 yards before they reached a main road. Looking southwards along this road Brian could see two police cars.

"Hmm... Déjà vu" He said sarcastically. Rebecca was too tired to notice. They crossed the normally busy road, which was devoid of traffic given that the game between the Broncos and the Oakland Raiders had gone to overtime and that the road past the intersection with Jesson Road was closed off by the R.P.D. As they approached Rebecca's apartment building, she looked at Brian wearing her ex-boyfriend's clothes and had an idea.

"Seeing as you'll be at work tomorrow and I'll have the apartment all to myself, do you want me to go into Stoneville and get the rest of your stuff to move in? I know you haven't said you would want to move in permanently, but at least you'd be wearing your own clothes."

"Haven't you done enough for me already?" Brian chuckled. "But you're right; having my own stuff around would stop me looking like your ex." He then thought for a second: "But your car's tiny, you'd have to make a lot of trips, and with today's gas prices..."

"Richard's got a SUV; besides, he owes me." They entered the apartment building and got inside the lift. "Is there anything that I need to be careful with?" She asked. Brian blushed.

"There's a guitar that was my dad's so it holds some sentimental value. I can't remember anything else off the top of my head, but I'm sure you'll find out." They left the lift and headed for Rebecca's apartment. As they entered, Brian went straight for his bedroom door.

"I'm gonna hit the sack" he said with a huge yawn "I'm absolutely wrecked. Goodnight."

"Yeah, goodnight", Rebecca replied, crashing onto the sofa. "If you're not up by 7:30 I'll be waking you up myself."

"That sounds fair" he smiled. He went into his room, and flopped onto the bed, still in his clothes.

Rebecca's Apartment: Saturday, September 26th:0830

The next morning, Brian was awoken by something shaking him.

"Get up!" A voice commanded. Brian rolled over to see Rebecca standing over him with a mug of coffee. "Its 8:30, you're supposed to be at last night's murder scene in half an hour, COME ON!" Brian sat up and let out a big yawn while stretching. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stood up.

"But mom, I don't wanna go to school today..." He said drowsily. He made his way into the bathroom and started to put water on his hair to try and flatten it back out into his usual style, as well as trying to scrub the dried blood off from the night before. He shifted back into the main living area only to be attacked by a barrage flying clothes and boots.

"Leon dropped these off for you. You'll need to wear them. Get changed, hurry up!" Brian managed to pick up a bit of pace and ran into his room. He changed at lightning speed into his S.T.A.R.S uniform, and ran straight back out, grabbing a piece of toast from the counter in the kitchen and ran for the door.

"Wait!" Rebecca called, "you're forgetting something." She held up Brian's gun belt with her left hand, and his beret with the other.

"Thanks" He replied, snatching the gun belt and putting it on. "How do I look?"

"You look fine" Rebecca assured him. "Now get to work, I'll see you tonight."

"Right. Oh, before I forget, my apartment key is on the dresser in my room, and my wallet has my driver's license in there that's got my address on it, there's a $100 bill on the dresser that will get you a U-Haul should you need one. And leave the beret here. I'm not going to need it today."

Brian turned and ran out the door. He couldn't be bothered to wait for the lift, so he headed for the stairs. Using his initiative; he slid down the banisters to get him down quicker. He then ran out past the landlord's office, out of the front door and onto the streets. Turning right he started running, not caring much about his leg, he just didn't want to be late and give everyone a bad impression of himself. Through sheer luck, he was able to cross over Fox Street just as the crossing signs turned green. His leg was starting to twinge, but he kept going, dodging the various people that populated the streets during the Saturday morning rush hour. Still running, he saw the end of Cedar Drive was drawing itself nearer and nearer. A final right turn led him onto Jack Street, and he could see the police officers a hundred yards ahead. A police officer saw him approach the yellow tape blocking off the road.

"Sorry pal." He said, holding out his hand to tell him to stop. "This is a crime scene, you'll just have to turn around and find another way to where it is you want to go." Brian, panting, pulled out his S.T.A.R.S badge and showed it to the officer. "Oh," the officer replied, realising his mistake, "certainly sir, in you go. Ms Valentine is already over there waiting for you. How many more will be here today?"

"Just... Just one more..." Brian panted. He saw Jill talking to an officer. Jill spotted him and waved him over.

"What happened to you?" She asked a panting and sweating Brian, who was also bent over with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

"I thought I'd try and wake myself up a little." He panted. He then stood up right. "What's happening?"

"Well", Jill began, "Don has taken the body back to the R.P.D to see if he can find the bullet. These other officers are directing traffic around the area and just explaining to these shop owners why they're closed. We've had no luck in finding the cartridge yet. When we've found that we can try to piece together the type of round used and ultimately, what type of rifle was used." She looked up the road to see a police car arriving. The officer who stopped Brian let the car through and it parked on the side of the street, just past the alley to the left of the sniper's nest. The door opened and out stepped Leon, wearing his S.T.A.R.S uniform, which was a simple adaptation of the uniform he wore way back in 1998, with the white long sleeved undershirt covered by a dark blue shirt.

"Morning." He said cheerfully.

"Morning." Jill and Brian replied in unison. Jill repeated what she just told Brian to Leon, and suggested they started to look for clues around the area that might link them to the shooter. They combed the area in front of the bar looking for clues, Leon went up the alley to see all the possible routes the sniper could have taken to get in that alley and ultimately, to the roof. As he headed back to the other officers in the street, he found Brian looking at a fixture standing about six feet off the roof of a shop, with a security camera hanging underneath. The camera was slowly moving from side to side, scanning the street in front of the bar.

"What is it?" Leon asked.

"That camera", Brian acknowledged, pointing at the fixture. "It looks like it's used to spot trouble makers in the street or get an extra look at shop lifters for this store. It's about 15 feet back from where our sniper was; maybe the flash of the rifle lit him up enough for us to see who he was."

"Hmm", Leon thought, "Maybe. Come on, we'll go and check with this place here."

They walked inside the shop and found a young man working at the counter. He wasn't from the States, he looked might have been from South America, or possibly from Spain, Portugal or Greece in Europe.

"I'm sorry, but we is closed" he said in an accent that Leon and Brian were only just able to distinguish what was being said. The English he was using was clearly limited, as he used 'is' instead of 'are' in his last sentence. It was an accent that was similar to Carlos', except much thicker, and harder to understand. Leon walked over to the counter.

"We'd like to speak to your boss." Leon said in a friendly voice, trying not to intimidate the foreigner. The man behind the counter didn't answer, only cocked his head to one side. Leon tried again, this time speaking louder and clearer.

"We would like to speak with your manager". Again, the clerk did not respond. As Leon tried for a third time, Brian held up his hand for him to stop and tried himself.

"Hablemos con tu encargado antes de que llame el INS y tenerte deportado. Aceptable amigo?" The clerk panicked for a moment, Brian had an incredibly serious look on his face.

"Si! Si Senor!" He ran off upstairs to get his manager. Brian and Leon laughed as he saw the panic stricken man dart off like a scared fish.

"What did you just do?." Leon asked, confused.

"I told him to let us speak with his manager before I called immigration." Brian replied. They both erupted into laughter once more, but stopped when the clerk's manager appeared.

"Is this about what happened last night? I told your guys this morning I have no idea what happened."

"Well, I guess it is" said Leon. "Is that your camera hanging off that metal frame in the alley?"

"Yeah? What about it?" The manager answered rudely.

"May we take a look at the tape? It might provide some clues as to who shot that guy last night." The manager thought for a moment at Leon's questions. He then ushered them in to the security room, where he took a DVD case off the shelf with 'September 25th' scribbled in biro down the spine. He shoved it into Brian's hand and ordered them out.

"Come on" Leon said, showing Brian the way "We'll watch it in the car."

They went outside and climbed into the squad car Leon arrived in, with Leon in the driver's seat and Brian in the passenger seat. Brian put the DVD into the player and they analysed the footage.

"There, stop." Leon reacted and paused the tape. Brian pointed at the screen at the various figures in the picture. "There's Chris, there's me, and there's Kevin. The guy in the middle is the guy who tried taking out Carlos and Billy. I think there's about another minute or so before the sniper shot him". Leon skipped the video forward a bit more. Luckily, the camera had a sensor in it that tracked anything that moved, so it was locked on to the four men in front of the bar for the whole time. Leon skipped a bit further and stopped at the exact moment the bullet hit the assassin's head.

"Damn it!" Brian exclaimed, hitting the dashboard with his fist. "The bastard used a flash suppressor!" He possessed a noticeable New England accent, accented further when he was annoyed or angry. It was the first that Leon had heard the accent in this way.

"Why would he use a flash suppressor and not a silencer?" Leon wondered.

"Perhaps he knew that camera was there." They took the DVD out of the player; put the disc away and Brian pushed it through the mail slot in the door of the shop they borrowed it from.

He then jogged over to Leon, who was discussing what they had just seen with Jill.

"It looks like we're dealing with professionals here." She declared. "Keep searching the area; try looking for the discarded casing." Leon walked back over to the alley and immediately started sweeping the area for anything and everything. Brian and Jill went over to where the assassin was murdered; trying to see if the bullet had passed straight through the victim's head and landed somewhere nearby. Jill checked the concrete slabs and Brian looked over the wall. After about five minutes of searching he found some of the brickwork behind the pool of the victim's dried blood cracked.

"Jill!" He called, "I think I've got something!" He was able to pry away some of the brickwork and watched as the bullet, coated in a layer of blood and brick dust dropped out of the wall. Reacting quickly he caught it in his hand, and held it up to the light to get a better look.

"There we go" he said proudly "one sniper bullet."

"Good work newbie" Jill responded, patting him on the back. "Go to one of those officers over there and get it bagged, I'll help Leon over there." Brian quickly headed for one of the forensics officers and got the bullet bagged. He then moved swiftly over to Jill and Leon, who were still searching for that missing cartridge. Leon had climbed on to the roof to see what he could find, and was literally searching on his hands and knees. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew down the street, sending a chill down everybody's spine. Jill heard something metallic hit the ground nearby. She looked in the direction of where the sound came from to see a cartridge bouncing repeatedly off the concrete.

"I've found it!" She called. Leon headed for the ladder and scurried down. Brian joined Jill as she stared at the cartridge in her hand.

"This is something I've never seen before. It's certainly off a rifle I've never used." She said curiously. She gave it to Leon, who was puzzled as well.

"No", he said shaking his head, "I've not seen anything like it before. Has it come from a military issue rifle?" He asked, giving the cartridge to Brian, who examined it carefully.

"Sorry, it's not off something I used. Besides, I've never fired a sniper round in my life." Leon rubbed his chin and came up with an idea.

"Brian, hold on to that cartridge. Show it to some of the other S.T.A.R.S members like Barry or Billy. Barry's in the NRA and Billy was a Marine." He gave Brian the keys to the squad car. "The computers in the S.T.A.R.S office have a database of all kinds of weapon on them. See if you can find a match." Brian put the cartridge in his side pack and zipped it up to prevent it falling out. He then jumped into the squad car, did a three point turn and drove the car back to the R.P.D. This would also be the first time he'd driven into the car park situated in the basement. The guard raised the barrier and Brian slowly navigated his way down. He pulled into the nearest available parking bay and got out. He made his way north, past the armoury, and took a left to make his way back up the stairs to the night watchmen's room. When he reached the top of the stairs he had a thought: What would be the fastest way to the S.T.A.R.S offices from where he was standing? Should he go up the lift, past Chamberlain's office and round the balcony? Or go into the main hall and up the stairs there? He chose the latter, heading past the interrogation rooms and the press hall. He looked in to the east office to see officers filling in paperwork and chatting by the water cooler. He entered the main hall and saw Chris coming towards him.

"Brian!" He said with some surprise. "How come you're not at the bar?"

"We found the cartridge from the murder weapon", he replied, showing Chris the discarded shell. Chris looked at it, examining it from all angles. "It's a type we've never seen before."

"You're telling me. It might be military issue, but I don't know much about military rifles, I flew '16s in the Air Force, so I'm more familiar with heat seeking missiles and radar jammers." He laughed and handed the cartridge back to Brian. "Check it with our database in the office. You might get a match."

"Will do" Brian replied positively, and headed up the stairs to the balcony. He headed through the practically empty library and into the 2nd floor lounge. From what he could remember of the layout, the S.T.A.R.S Bravo team office was directly in front of him.

He opened the door and was surprised to hear the sounds of the blues emanating from the stereo. S.T.A.R.S Bravo Team leader Barry Burton was in the office changing the ink cartridges on the printer, as he was of the few members who knew how to. He closed the printer and saw Brian, who was tapping his right hand on his thigh in time with the music. Barry smiled at him.

"So this must be Brian MacFarlane" he said cheerfully, holding his hand out to shake with Brian. "I've heard nothing but good things about you. I'm Barry Burton, Bravo Team's captain, pleased to meet you. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"There is, actually", Brian replied, producing the cartridge Jill found that morning. "Jill, Leon and I found this at the murder scene on Jack Street this morning. Leon mentioned that you are with the NRA and might know something about it."

"May I have a look?" He asked politely. Brian handed it over. Barry examined it carefully in much the same way everyone else had. He stroked his beard and then handed the cartridge back to Brian.

"I don't know what gun that's come from" He said sympathetically. "But what I _can_ tell you is that this _hasn't_ come from a sniper rifle." He paused for a second. "I tell you what..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his camera phone. "Hold it in a flat palm. I'll take a picture and I can show the guys at the NRA meeting tonight. We have a couple of ex military guys who go there. They might know something." Brian held the cartridge out and Barry took a couple of pictures.

"Thanks for helping anyway." Brian sighed, putting the cartridge back in his side pack.

"I don't know if Billy might know anything about it, but he might." Barry added. Brian didn't need to go searching the station looking for Billy, as he came into the S.T.A.R.S office as soon as Barry had finished speaking. "Speak of the devil!" He chuckled. Brian handed Billy the cartridge and he too examined it with great care.

"It's not from a sniper rifle, it's far too small" he concluded. "The only thing I can suggest it coming from is an assault rifle. But I only ever handled M4s and M16s, and I fired enough rounds of those suckers to tell you without any hesitation, that shell is _not_ from one of them. In fact, I'm not even sure that's even a standard NATO round" He handed the cartridge back to Brian.

"Come with me" Barry suggested, and showed Brian through the changing rooms and in to the main S.T.A.R.S office where his desk was. He nudged the mouse to get rid of the screensaver and sat down. Brian took a chair as well and they set about trying to work out where the cartridge stemmed from.

"We've eliminated sniper rifles from the equation, we've now got it down to hunting rifles and assault rifles, which, even without sniper rifles to check is still a lot", Barry explained. "Think back to last night. What was the sound the gun made? Was it more like a hunting rifle or an assault rifle?" Brian closed his eyes and was immersed in deep thought for a second.

"Actually, now you mention it, it sounded like an assault rifle set on single fire mode" he concluded. Barry took out a ruler and measured the calibre of the cartridge. "20mm by..." he then measured the length of the cartridge. "38mm? That can't be right." He measured it again, and he still had the same result. So he tried again, this time actually counting the millimetre measures on the ruler. It still came out at 38mm. He looked at Brian with a puzzled look on his face. "I'm sure you know: Standard rounds are 5.56mm by 45mm. Other assault rifle ammunition, like the AK47 is usually 7mm across. Your cartridge is a 20mm by 38. That's larger than your average rifle round, but still smaller than a sniper round. This is really peculiar." Brian put the cartridge in his side pack again for what seemed like the hundredth time. Barry frowned. "Sorry I couldn't help you kid."

"It's ok" Brian responded with a small smile. "You did your best." He noticed a small picture frame on Barry's computer tower. "Is that your wife?" He asked, apologising for being a little nosy.

"That's alright." Barry chuckled, "and yes, that's my wife Kathy. We've been married since 1983, and celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary yesterday. She's also given me the glorious gift of two beautiful daughters. My eldest is eighteen and the youngest sixteen. They always wait up for me." Brian's eyes widened.

"Twenty one years!?" He asked.

"I sometimes wonder how I've done it as well" He laughed. "Anyway, I'm gonna go and visit the firing range. I'll see you around." He got up and headed out the office.

Barry had clearly changed since the events of 1998. He still had that undeniably deep care for his wife and two daughters, and always put them first. But, since that was what led him to be blackmailed by Albert Wesker in to bringing Jill, Rebecca, Richard and Chris to him otherwise harm would come to his family, Barry would now always put his team mates first when on duty. If someone came to Barry with a problem, he would go out of his way to help them. If someone had an internet connection problem with the office computers, Barry would be straight over to help. If he overheard that someone needed a new spark plug for a Ford Crown Victoria, he'd be straight on the internet to find someone who had the part for the cheapest price. He always feels that he needs to constantly repay his team mates for his betrayal, even though that was six years in the past and Richard, Chris, Jill and Rebecca had since forgotten about it. He had earned the nickname Grandpa, as he was the oldest of the S.T.A.R.S members at 44, while the rest of the members were all in their late twenties to early thirties (or, in the case of Rebecca and Brian, 24 and 25 respectively), and he would look after the S.T.A.R.S members like they were his family: always looking out for them and never taking sides in an argument, always being able to diffuse the situation before things got out of hand. This also earned him great respect amongst the rest of the precinct, as he could often go into an extremely dangerous situation and come out with all fugitives arrested without a single shot being fired on both sides. Other R.P.D officers would often question why he wasn't the leader of S.T.A.R.S, but Barry would always explain modestly that although being Bravo team's leader was a great honour, Chris would always be a better leader and a better motivator, as well as having many years left in him. Being 44, Barry was considering his retirement at around the time he turned 50. Brian wasn't the first person to be incredibly impressed by Barry's immense kindness.

Brian thought he'd better relay what he had discovered to Jill back at the murder scene. Heading over to his desk he saw a phone, with a speed dial button for each of the members' home and mobile numbers. Realising they were all in alphabetical order, he found his way down to the bottom where it read 'Valentine- Cell'. He pressed the button and put the phone to his ear. After a few seconds of ringing, Jill picked up.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Jill, its Brian here."

"Oh hi Brian!" She replied with surprise. "What have you been able to find out?"

"The cartridge you found this morning does not match any gun on the S.T.A.R.S database. In fact, we never even got to open the database. Barry measured the cartridge and it's a 20 calibre round. It's come off an assault rifle, but not one that is used by the police, military, or anyone." He could hear Jill cursing on the other end of the phone. She sighed and gave Brian his next instruction.

"Then we've hit a dead end. Forensics did a sweep of the roof and found nothing. Try sending a picture of this round to all the major gun manufacturers in the country. That's probably our only other option."

"There may be a problem there. Maybe the weapon is top secret military project and they might not want anyone poking their noses in it. Barry has a couple of shots on his phone. He said he'd show some of his NRA buddies tonight."

"Ok then. Leon and I are coming back to the station. We'll meet in the gardens outside and discuss what our next course of action will be. We'll see you in about 10 minutes, ok? Oh, tell Barry and Billy to come with you as well."

"Will do. I'll see you there." He put the phone down and made his way back in to the S.T.A.R.S Bravo office, telling Billy exactly what Jill said and to accompany him outside.

The three S.T.A.R.S members leant against the wall by the giant doors that led into the precinct, after a few minutes of waiting, Leon and Jill approached them via the main gates.

"Good, you're here." Jill began. "We need some answers as to what happened last night. Does anyone have any ideas?" There was an eerie silence as all five members though deeply for a moment. Then Brian wagged his finger as he always did when he had a great idea.

"There's a guy who owns a gun store in Stoneville who's been dealing some black market guns at low prices lately, but because of the lack of evidence against him, the guys there haven't been able to bust him. He might know at least something about it. I warn you, the guy's a nut job, claims to have seen UFOs and aliens and all sorts of crazy shit."

"Oh" said Billy dryly. "He's one of 'those'". Brian nodded his head and Jill looked at her watch.

"Well, it's now 11:15; you should make it there and back before 5.00."

"Yeah" Brian agreed. "It's 40 miles away, if there's little traffic on the freeway we should be there by ten to twelve."

"Then do it." Jill commanded. "I just want answers; this whole case is just too weird."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

RAF Station Waddington, England. February 23rd 2002. 1122:

"Okay Sergeant, I'm giving you three choices here" The Major explained, sitting opposite him at the table. "You can either go back to Afghanistan and serve out your tour.." The Sergeant scowled at his superior. If looks could kill...

"If you think I'm going back there, sir, you can fuck off." The Major was taken aback by this, but let it go as it was after all a stupid thing to suggest. "Give me ten minutes, you'll have your decision then..."

Interstate 78: September 26th- 1117:

Brian had been partnered with Billy on this next stage of the investigation. Under orders from Jill, he had to drive to Stoneville and question a gun shop owner about some of the guns he has been selling to people. Brian drove the unmarked car up the on ramp onto the freeway, with his sunglasses on and Billy sat in the passenger seat resting his arm on the small window ledge.

"Stoneville was the first place I went to after I escaped that Umbrella testing facility with Rebecca." Billy recalled. "I can't believe I managed to keep going on the run for another three years before the Marines finally caught me."

"Where did you go from Stoneville?" Brian asked.

"Wherever passing truck drivers would take me. I ended up in all sorts of strange and wonderful places. Salt Lake City, Vegas, Austin, Oakland..."

"How were you caught?" Brian queried, his eyes focused on the road ahead, Billy looked out the window.

"I was in Oakland during the summer of 2001, and I guess I got too close to Alameda Naval Station, because one of the team commanders on the USS Essex was walking into a bar when he recognised me. He held me at gunpoint and called for some MPs to arrest me. I had by luck run into Rebecca when she was working in a hospital in Salt Lake City and she had given me her home contact details. I was given another trial and Rebecca's testimonial, as well as my own commander's confession that I had nothing to do with the murder of those African villagers, led to the charges being dropped. When I heard that S.T.A.R.S was being reformed in Raccoon City, I was on the next plane over, and here I am today, sitting in a car sharing stories with an army guy." Brian was a little confused by the story.

"Why were you charged with the murders and not your commander?"

"Because I was the only one who didn't obey his orders" Billy replied. "You know how the American military is, we hate coming home empty handed and we hate to lose. When I tried to stop my commander, he knocked me out and I was unable to help the villagers. When I woke up the rest of the team lied to my superiors that it was me who cut them down like they were animals. The rest got off scot-free the bastards. Only my CO got the jail time in the end."

"Yeah." Brian nodded his head, agreeing with Billy's statement. "We're pretty much the bullies of the world right now." He gave Billy a quick glance. "Are we going to have to blow each others' heads off now for treason?" he joked. Billy cracked a smile, and pushed a CD into the player.

After approximately an hour on the road, Brian and Billy reached Stoneville's city limits. Brian had been living and working here for nearly a year as a police officer, so he knew the place pretty well. He left the freeway and drove around the centre of the city, looking for the gun shop.

"Do you know where it is?" Billy asked.

"Yeah, it's right in the middle of town." Brian replied positively. "It's called Dragon Armouries" Brian turned into a narrow street, and he could see the gun shop on the right hand side of the road. Turning his indicator on, he turned into the alley next to the shop and they climbed out, taking some S.T.A.R.S jackets with them, as the weather was slightly cool.

"This shop looks like it has seen better days" said Billy, looking at the building.

"Yeah, this town is rather run down." Brian replied, "You should see the place at Christmas, all the lights make it look like Vegas after a nuclear war."

"Is it that bad?" Billy asked. Brian didn't need to respond, his face said it all. They walked round the corner, but Brian stopped Billy before going in.

"What is it?" Billy asked. "Are we going in or what?"

"Just watch out for this guy... He's erm... He's weird. Be intimidating or stern with him and he'll tell you all you want to know. I know I'm just a rookie, but let me handle him." Brian opened the door and they entered the shop.

Dragon Armouries was your typical gun shop. Shotguns hung off the walls and in a large glass case, which also doubled as the counter, were a wide array of handguns. There was also a clothes rack with various hunting clothes on them. They were the only two in the shop; Billy opened a door to the storage room on the far wall and saw no one.

"Tyler!" Brian called. "Are you in here?" A door behind the counter opened and out stepped a middle aged man with thinning grey hair, a beard and wearing a red bandanna with a red and white striped button up shirt, blue jeans and sandals. He came up to the counter, coughing and spluttering. Brian and Billy approached him.

"Hey Tyler!" Brian said cheerfully, "How's it going old friend?" The gun shop owner stopped coughing.

"Whoa! Officer MacFarlane! Dude!" Tyler replied in a spaced out voice. He noticed something on the counter: It was a selection of mp3 players. "How did these get here?" He said, pretending not to know how they got there.

"I don't know Tyler, but we hear you're into something hotter than some stolen iPods." Tyler gave an innocent shrug.

"Well, before all that business with Raccoon City I was a huge meth dealer for the tri-city area, but that's all in the past." He leant over the counter and tried to look inconspicuous. "But I got some marijuana out back if you're interested." Brian didn't look too impressed. Billy folded his arms, causing the bottom of his jacket to rise up enough as to reveal his Beretta. Tyler looked down and saw the S.T.A.R.S badge on the handle, causing him to scurry backwards in fear.

"You're with S.T.A.R.S now? I thought you were with the S.P.D still!" Brian pulled out his S.T.A.R.S badge and placed it on the counter.

"Where are the guns?" Billy asked.

"What guns? I haven't got any guns. Other than the ones you see here that is..." Tyler replied, his voice breaking and beginning to shake.

"The _illegal _guns" Billy continued.

Tyler was really starting to buckle under the constraints. He had already confessed to the drugs he had been selling and possessing, it was only a matter of time before they found his other 'private stash'.

"Wha... What is it you want Brian?" Brian leant on the counter and gave their reason straight and clear.

"You know how the S.P.D will instantly fire you if it's found you've conducted police brutality?" Brian asked. Tyler nodded. "Yeah, S.T.A.R.S never got that memo." Tyler cocked his head to one side. Brian was really not in the mood for games. He wanted the guns, and he wanted them now. As professional as he was to the core, working on a Saturday was something he hated. "So show us the guns, mother fucker or I'll bust that door down and get them myself!"

"Yeah... You got it dude." Tyler opened the door behind the counter and showed the police officers in. The room was full of marijuana smoke, and smelt terrible. Brian and Billy coughed as they accidentally took in a massive gulp of air.

"That's some top quality shit there my friend" Tyler teased the pair. "I mix it with those green and red herbs from the area. The healing powers are out of this fucking world!" Tyler had been doing the drug since he was 15 and it seemed like he was immune to the smoke. Inside this room was also a plethora of illegal weapons. From military grade sniper rifles to hand grenades. Brian waved his hands about frantically in an attempt to clear some of the smoke from around him.

"So what exactly is it you're looking for dude?" Tyler asked. Brian reached into his pocket and showed Tyler the discarded cartridge from the mystery rifle.

"This cartridge, where is it from?" He asked sternly. Tyler looked at it and immediately gave an answer.

"I saw it on the TV man." He confirmed. "Some army dudes were showing off this new weapon they've developed. The thing was absolutely beautiful. But I..."

"'But'... what?" Billy asked, "You're too shit faced to remember?" Tyler hung his head in shame.

"Yeah dude... Sorry..." Brian sighed and put the cartridge in his pocket once more.

"You're lucky we don't have a warrant to clear all this out. You know that once we get back to Raccoon City there are gonna be some boys in blue knocking on your front door in the next couple of weeks. So I suggest getting rid of that dope, and erm... Don't bother trying to get rid of those guns; we've got evidence on those now." Billy, playing along, reached up on to a shelf and took hold of an M-95 Barrett sniper rifle, as well as all the ammunition that was available for it.

"We'll also be taking this." He said with a cheesy grin. They left the smoke- filled room, Brian picked up his badge and they headed outside, with Tyler following them as far as the counter.

"I won't let you get away with this next time!" he called after them.

"I see you what you meant now" Billy said as he loaded the sniper rifle into the boot of the car. They got inside and fastened their seatbelts. Brian was about to start the engine when he smelt something funny.

"Jesus..." He said, cringing. "That stinks to high hell."

"Yeah" Billy agreed. Let's get back and have a shower!" Brian started the engine and reversed carefully onto the road, before navigating Stoneville's tight streets to get onto the freeway

They were only ten miles from Raccoon City when Brian remembered the sniper rifle in the boot of the car.

"Why did you pick up that rifle?" He asked curiously. "You obviously knew what it was, because you picked it up without hesitation."

"One of the guys in my team used one of the prototypes in Kosovo. It's called the M-95 Barrett sniper rifle. It's also the only known hand held weapon that can penetrate the bullet proof glass on helicopter windshields. Imagine this: If you lined 20 people of the same height up inside the R.P.D's main hall, each of them standing about two feet apart, and fired from the opposite sidewalk on Ennerdale Street, the bullet would go straight through the brickwork like it was paper, and go through the heads of every single person in the line, and will still have enough power to go straight through the wall at the back of the hall."

"Pretty damn powerful then?" Brian asked.

"Yeah", Billy nodded.

Five minutes later, Brian drove the unmarked car down in to the R.P.D's underground car park. As they stepped out, other officers down there caught a whiff of their marijuana smelling clothes. Looking incredibly embarrassed they headed upstairs to the S.T.A.R.S office, where Chris and Leon were talking. When Brian and Billy walked in, Chris greeted them.

"Hey guys. Did you..." He too caught a whiff of their clothes. "What the hell have you two been doing? That smells like pot..." he took another sniff "and red herb..."

"There's a gun shop owner in Stoneville who smokes enough of the stuff to give Columbia's drug lords a healthy retirement. I thought he might know something about our mystery cartridge. He's seen it before, but he's too baked to remember where exactly." Chris understood and with a chuckle told them to hit the showers before going home.

"Good idea, looks like I'll be washing this stuff out of my hair for the next week" said Billy sarcastically.

After spending fifteen minutes in the showers, Brian and Billy changed in to some fresh clothes and got their things ready to go home. As Brian was about to leave, Chris stopped him.

"Brian. Keep those clothes at home, and have a set of clothes here as well. Just in case we get a call out while you're at home."

"Will do Chris." Brian replied. "See you on Monday." Brian opened the door and started his walk home.

"Actually", Chris corrected him, "You'll need to be in tomorrow for the memorial service. You'll get Tuesday and Wednesday off, I promise."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Twenty Miles Southwest of Hancock, Michigan. March 1st 2003. 0903:

"What do you mean 'I gotta quit?'" The General in charge of the Michigan Facility asked. "Do you realise I _need_ you here? You're the best man I've got!"

"I'm sorry sir, but I just can't anymore. I'm sure you understand my previous experiences on the battlefield..."

"I understand that, Sergeant. But you need to understand that what we're developing here can only carry on because of your expertise..."

"They're getting worse, Tim! I've got to leave." The Sergeant interjected. General Adams folded his arms, and completely understood. He took out some pieces of paper and filled in some forms. Once completed, the Sergeant turned to leave.

"Where will you go, son?" Adams stood up and asked as the Sergeant put his hand on the door handle. The Sergeant just shrugged. "Take a seat, I might be able to help..."

Outside the Frontier Apartment Building- September 26th- 1710:

As Brian approached the apartment building, he saw a large SUV leave the drive and head towards him. The driver gave him a wave as he went past.

"Looks like my stuff's all here." He thought to himself. "Rebecca had better not have broken anything."

He headed through the front door and over to the lift. The landlord gave him a strange look as Brian was still in uniform. Brian pressed the lift call button and headed to the 5th floor. When he arrived, he headed for the apartment. The door was slightly open, so he gave a quiet knock and headed in. Rebecca was lying on the sofa reading a book. When she saw Brian enter, she put the bookmark in and got up.

"Have a good day?" She asked with a smile. Brian replied positively and apologised profusely about any strange smells emitting from his clothes . "Is all my stuff ok?"

"You don't need to worry about all that. I drove back myself because I didn't trust Richard with all that stuff. By the way, I found this in the back of your wardrobe gathering dust. I would have thought with this you'd have taken better care of it. She picked up something off the table and unzipped the protective jacket to reveal an army uniform. "I also found your medals in there. How come you just left them? I mean, one of these is a Distinguished Service Cross!" Brian's mood suddenly changed.

"It's nothing, really." He headed into his room and changed in to some of his own clothes. Rebecca zipped up the uniform and hung it up on a jacket rack for the time being before putting the dinner on. Five minutes later, Brian came in wearing a casual shirt and jeans, and lied down on the sofa to have a nap.

Half an hour later, Rebecca was stirring the vegetables in the saucepan when she was startled by Brian jumping up on the sofa and woke suddenly with a loud gasp. Rebecca turned to see Brian was hyperventilating and shaking uncontrollably. She immediately turned down the heat and ran over to him, sitting him upright and trying to calm him down.

"Brian?" she asked with a lot of concern in her voice. "What's wrong? Are you ok?" Brian couldn't answer. He had gone pale and was shaking so much Rebecca couldn't stop him. She was getting worried, so ran over to the storage cupboard and grabbed a paper bag that she had brought her groceries home with a few days ago. She took it over to Brian and put the open end over his mouth and made it so it would inflate and deflate as he breathed in and out.

"It's ok, just breathe normally… in... And out... in... And out..." Brian was able to relax and did as Rebecca told. His breathing rate slowly started to return to normal and the colour started to return to his face. Rebecca took the bag away from his mouth, parked herself on the edge of the sofa and held him up as he panted heavily. She looked into his deep blue eyes, they were dilated, something was wrong… Something was really wrong, but Rebecca was always one to worry about those who were her friends.

"Are you ok?" She asked. "Did you have a bad dream?" Brian looked at her. There was no point in trying to cover it up anymore...

They sat down at the kitchen table; Rebecca had given Brian the bottle of whiskey she kept in the cupboard for her Irish coffees so he could ease the shaking. She sat opposite him while Brian eyed his medals.

"It was November 12th, 2001. My team had been sent into Kandahar to take out some remaining Taliban insurgents holed up in the city. There were forty of us in all: Mostly privates, but I remember a corporal, a couple of specialists, I was a sergeant, and a staff sergeant in charge of all of us. A Chinook dropped us off about 5 miles south of the city, outside a gas station just before daybreak. We started the long walk north, taking all our supplies and weapons with us. Some were killed by landmines, others injured the enemy. Most of us stayed with injured soldiers, so in the end only six of us were able to carry on, but we just kept on going. We were so close to finishing the Taliban off, we couldn't just quit now. When we finally entered the city, everything was quiet. In fact, it was too quiet, even though it was dawn and the city full of terrorists. A civilian let us inside her house and told us where the insurgents would be. We headed back onto the streets, and were immediately shot at by guys with AK47s. I remember killing three, the staff sergeant killed two, and one incredibly accurate private first class managed to get ten. The corporal was wounded, so the staff sergeant, who was called Mark, picked him up and we tried to find a safe place to keep him while we tried to get a chopper in. We missed a guy who had a rocket launcher, and he fired at the ground around us. I was able to spot him before he fired, and we were able to get some distance away before the rocket hit the ground. I was thrown about ten feet away from the blast, twisting my ankle and badly bruising my right wrist. It's a miracle I wasn't killed. But, sadly, the corporal, a specialist and a private weren't so lucky. They were killed, but Mark and the accurate private first class survived." Brian downed his whiskey and continued while pouring another one. "I think the corporal must have blocked the blast for him, because he got the medal of honour or something like that. Mark was badly injured, he was bleeding from a cut in his head, and he had dislocated his left shoulder and sprained his ankle. The private was relatively unscathed, just had some bruises, had been winded and his clothes were a little messed up. We moved as quickly as possible into the building we had seen the rocket launcher guy in. The PFC, I think his name was Dale, cleared out the entire building like he was killing zombies in a _Resident_ _Evil_ game. We took the stairs to the roof and decided we'd wait there until night when we could escape under the cover of darkness. Dale made the mistake of taking his Kevlar helmet off while standing up; and he was shot in the helmet by a sniper. I was able to spot the sniper and managed to take him out, using the last few bullets of my M4. I was stuck with mine and Mark's Berettas, and we were stuck for ammo because what was left of it was in the specialist's bag lying there on the street. I had six Beretta clips: Three were mine, and the other three were Mark's. I hid Mark with Dale on one side of the doorway that led to the stairs, and I stayed the other side. As various Taliban guys came out onto the roof, I picked them off one by one, and as the last one came up, I had run out of ammo, and hadn't got the time to change clips. The enemy shot, but missed, so I played dead on the ground. The Arab turned and left, and I just had to wait till night." Rebecca got up to see to the dinner, while Brian drank the whiskey. The shaking had stopped now, but he left it out at the table, once again looking at his medals.

"What happened once night came?" Rebecca asked. Brian closed one of the medal cases and continued:

"Once night fell, I opened my eyes and carefully looked around to see if anyone was there. I told Mark to be as quiet as possible and we headed out onto the street. Luckily for us, the terrorists had left a pickup truck in the road that was easy pickings for us. I lay Mark in the back and hotwired the truck. I floored the gas pedal and got the hell out of the city. When we got 2 miles away, the damn thing ran out of gas, so we had to continue on foot back to the gas station so we could be extracted. Dale went on ahead to find help while we lagged behind. What we did forget about was the various mines the Taliban had planted for us. I guess I was lucky in that they were proximity controlled. They must have swiped them from an Army convoy or something, because I knew our land mines beep at increasing speeds before they blow, so when I heard the beeping, I tried to move Mark away as quickly as possible, but I couldn't move fast enough. The mine went off and we were both sent flying. I broke both of my legs, a collar bone, dislocated right shoulder, dislocated knee and four broken ribs, as well as a fucking massive head injury; it put me in a coma for a week. Luckily, one of the other guys tending to the injured saw the explosion and ran over to us. We were airlifted back to a base eighty miles from Kandahar where we were put in an intensive care unit, before being flown to some RAF base in England. That's where I woke up, and got presented with the Silver Star, I got the Soldier's Medal in Kosovo, and the Purple Heart, and the Distinguished Service Cross in England as well." Rebecca didn't know what to say. She stood up and stood behind Brian, wrapping her arms around him to give him a hug, with her arms around abdomen with her chin resting on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know. You must have gone through a lot" Brian let her hold him for a moment. Once Rebecca had let go to check on the dinner, he gave her the conclusion to his story.

"After months of hardcore recovery, my commanding officer came over and gave me three choices: I could go back to Afghanistan and serve out the rest of my term, get an honourable discharge from the army, or get posted to a military weapons testing facility. There was no way I was going back to Afghanistan, and I have practically no family left, my parents are no longer around, my only uncle lives in Australia and my only aunt lives in the Caribbean. I had to take the third option. I needed somewhere to live and I needed the money. It was the only thing I could really do."

"Do you mind if I ask how your parents died?" Rebecca asked politely. Brian looked up at her and gave her a straight answer.

"9/11". Rebecca dropped the wooden spoon and put a hand over her mouth as she gasped.

"They were on the first plane that crashed.." Rebecca put her arms around him again and held him a little tighter than before. She turned the heat down and headed over to the stereo. She reached into a plastic box and pulled out a CD case amongst a plethora of various movie soundtracks. She opened the box and placed the CD in the disc drawer. Brian let out a laugh as he heard the first few bars of the song. The CD that Rebecca had put on was the soundtrack to _The Blues Brothers_, Brian's favourite film. "Sweet Home Chicago is on it, and you were singing it in the elevator last night, so I kind of made the connection there really." She looked inside another box. "And most of these albums are by blues musicians."

Brian did feel a little better. There was no way a more well mannered, caring and friendly woman could exist. He had been in his fair share of relationships, a good looking guy like him usually was, but for some reason Rebecca was different. The thought escaped him as quickly as it entered. To him, he was living in her apartment for the short term, and besides: They are work colleagues, their relationship had to be strictly professional. He was then snapped from that thought by a beep emitting from the timer on the microwave.

"Chicken's done!" Rebecca said excitedly, and removed a baking tray with some chicken drumsticks on it from the oven. She shared them out onto two plates and poured some peas, a couple of boiled potatoes and squirted a bit of tomato ketchup on the side of each plate, before placing one in front of Brian and sitting opposite him with the other, talking about where and when he picked up some interesting things, like his various war 'trophies' and his collection of WWII memorabilia.

"I came in contact with an elderly man in a nursing home in a place called Walsall in England" he explained. "It was something where veterans of past wars would meet veterans of the Afghanistan conflict. He showed me this picture of him and this fine young girl, who was an American nurse who had come into Portsmouth harbour on board a US Destroyer. They became close friends and he told me that he has never been able to love anyone else like he could love her, and he asked me if I could try and find her and tell her about him. He was in a very frail state so I promised him I'd do my best to find her."

"Did you?" Rebecca asked, talking with her mouth full.

"When I got back to the States I was straight on the Census Bureau's website to see if I could find her. Sadly, she died in 1995, and when I made a call to the nursing home in England, the guy I spoke to had died that morning. Both of them died alone apparently, with no families."

"That's so sad." Rebecca said with some sympathy. "How long were you in England for?"

"Well, I recovered faster than anyone anticipated. I spent a week in a hospital bed after waking up, then in a wheelchair for a month while my bones healed, then some intense physiotherapy for another 2 months. Then I spent 2 months as my regular self over there, then came home to the army testing facility where I stayed till mid 2003, before being transferred to Stoneville's police force, then transferred here."

"So you get around then?" She joked.

"Kosovo, Afghanistan, England, Michigan, Colorado... Yeah, I guess I do."

"You fought in Kosovo?" said Rebecca with some surprise. "That's a while ago now"

"Yeah, I was eighteen at the time, and served two years over there. Eastern Europe's got nice scenery, shame it's all so poor over there and they're always shooting at each other." He finished the last of his chicken, and stood up, picking up both plates and placing them in the dishwasher. He turned and looked at the various boxes lining the edge of the living room and leant on the counter, folding his arms.

"You know something? If I had a girlfriend who kicked me out and didn't allow me to get my things back I wouldn't be bothered."

"What makes you say that?" Rebecca wondered curiously. Brian let out a cheeky smile.

"My stuff is shit."

The rest of the night was spent listening to Brian's immense collection of old records and CDs. A record that Rebecca really got into was _117 Degrees _by Izzy Stradlin, the former rhythm guitarist for Guns N' Roses. Rebecca, intending to establish common ground with Brian, briefly touched upon her experiences in the Arklay Mountains and how she and the other surviving S.T.A.R.S members, including Billy and Carlos and excluding Kevin, learned of Umbrella's experiments with bio-organic weapons. It was a strange thing for Brian to listen to. All this time he had been under the impression that they were in the city when they encountered the zombies and monsters, not in the Arklay Mountains. That said, he was in Kosovo when it all happened, and as someone outside that circle he would have to settle for any 'official' reports. Rebecca kept passing comment on the music. It wasn't something she'd normally listen to as she preferred 90s alternative music like Pearl Jam and the Stone Temple Pilots.

"I remember playing that album over and over when I first got it. It was great to play when we got out of that firing range where we were testing the..." He stopped mid sentence and sat completely still.

"Testing the what?" Rebecca asked. "Or aren't you allowed to talk about it."

"Have you got a computer?" He asked, changing the subject completely. Rebecca was a little confused.

"Erm... Yeah, I have a laptop in my room. I'll just go and get it." She got up and headed for her room. Brian headed into his and retrieved his side pack from his S.T.A.R.S uniform trousers. He exited his room as Rebecca came out of hers holding a MacBook. They sat back down on the sofa and Rebecca handed the laptop over to Brian.

"Where are you going with this?" She asked, intrigued. Brian didn't say anything. He opened the laptop and switched it on. When OS10 was loaded, he clicked straight on the Safari icon and the web browser loaded up. On the search engine, he selected Google Images and typed in four capital letters into the search bar. He hit the enter key and waited impatiently for the results to come up. When the images appeared, he clicked the fourth one across on the top row, which, when enlarged, revealed a futuristic looking assault rifle, which had two barrels, one on top of the other, a large scope which housed a small computer system for the infra red and night vision modes, a grenade launcher attached to the bottom and two clips: One for the standard 7.8mm rounds and another which contained six 20mm rounds. Brian turned the laptop screen so Rebecca could have a look.

"This is our mystery gun." He concluded. "The Objective Individual Combat Weapon. Or OICW for short." Rebecca looked at it in awe.

"Why couldn't you remember this before?" She asked him with some annoyance. "We'd have had a lot more leads by now."  
"When I was nearly blown up by that landmine, I suffered a massive head injury, and my memory after that event can get rather fuzzy. I can remember some things well, and others not so well. My mind just goes blank. Besides, I never fired the sniper round. I'm not trained to use sniper rifles." Rebecca's mood changed from slight annoyance to a more friendly tone.

"I forgot about that, but at least we're getting somewhere now. Can you remember much else? I hate to pester you but we need to know."

"The only place that sniper could have got it from is from the military testing facility in Michigan. It's about 35, maybe 40 miles southwest west of the city of Hancock, completely in the middle of nowhere. It's well hidden, and the transport Ospreys and helicopters have to fly through the creeks so they won't be seen by the public. The area in a 2 mile radius is fenced off to walkers and there's as much security there as there is on the approach to Area 51." Rebecca slid down a little on the sofa and pulled her knees up to her chest, she put her head on her knees and faced Brian.

"It's far too late to do anything now. We'll have to wait till tomorrow. We've got to go up the station anyway. I hate going to the memorial. It brings back too many memories." She remembered something: "You haven't been for your formal uniform fitting yet, have you?"

"No... What about it?" Brian replied dryly, knowing something embarrassing was going to come up.

"All of us have a tailor made ceremonial uniform made for us. You're going to have to wear a suit for now." She gave him a funny look, "You do have a suit, right?"

"I've got a shirt and tie, and a formal jacket thing., as well as my greens. I hate wearing suits and fancy formal stuff."

"That's ok. I think you might get away with wearing standard police shirt, some suit pants and smart shoes."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Parklands Apartment Block- June 4th 2004- 0920:

The lock on the door was picked and the door quickly swung open. In stepped the Stoneville police officer, hand on his gun and gingerly poking around the one bedroom flat.

"You in here?" He asked, searching for his partner. "People are worried about you, where are you?" On the floor the other side of the sofa, bottle of whiskey in hand was the officer he was looking for. "Shit... What the hell happened?" He quickly moved and sat his friend up.

"Dale... Go on ahead... Get help... I'll get the Staff out of here." The other officer was confused.

"Who's Dale?"

"Come on man... We'll get you home... Let's just hope there aren't any... Oh shit..."

With that, the officer convulsed and began crying out, struggling to breathe momentarily. Once he had settled down, he looked up at his partner and began to cry.

"I should be dead, Scott... I should be fucking dead..."

R.P.D Building- Sunday, September 27th: 12:30pm: 

All the police officers stood around the memorial in the main hall of the police station. The surviving members were all given chairs and gave speeches on members of the R.P.D who they were friends with and lost in the outbreak. Brian, Carlos and Billy, who were not part of S.T.A.R.S at that point, or the police service for that matter, stood with the rest of the officers, who stood in the standard R.P.D uniform with Brian looking out of place in his light blue shirt and black suit trousers. Carlos and Billy were present in their ceremonial uniforms, something which only the S.T.A.R.S members wore. After the minute's silence and the singing of the national anthem by Deborah Marshall, a local country singer, the officers who were not up with the survivors all took a seat and listened to the S.T.A.R.S members and surviving police officers talk about the friends they lost. Chris talked about Forest Speyer, who he found pecked to death by crows. Jill talked about Joseph Frost; the only casualty of Alpha team in the Arklay Mountains, Barry discussed Enrico Marini, the Bravo team captain, and the man he replaced. After Barry was Richard, who gave a touching speech about Edward Dewey, who turns out was his best friend. Rebecca was the last to address the death of a S.T.A.R.S member, talking about Ken Sullivan, who was killed seconds after Alpha team entered the mansion. Leon found it hard to find someone to talk about, as it was his first day in town the day he found it overrun by zombies. So he talked about Marvin Branagh, the only other surviving officer in the precinct when he arrived. Kevin gave an amusing twist on the tragic story of David Ford, who, against everything, led a group of surviving officers through the barrage of undead to find a way out of the city, only to be killed in the second zombie onslaught on the 27th September.

Other surviving officers who were there included Rita Mannford, who helped Kevin and others escape the police station, Dorian Richardson, who evacuated a group of civilians at the beginning of the outbreak and Doug Endsleigh, who was reported by surviving civilians and a couple of surviving officers to have personally rescued over eighty people, as well as having remained in the city for three days after the outbreak started.

After the speeches from the surviving officers, the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, gave a short speech praising each and every one of the surviving officers for their exceptional bravery in such horrific circumstances, while at the same time uncovering a massive underground conspiracy. When the ceremony was finished, there was a round of applause and everybody scurried around to try and get to the buffet before everyone else. Carlos, Brian and Billy stood up, and Brian said to Billy.

"Great... Powell..."

"Don't you like him?" Billy asked.

"He doesn't really care about who dies... He's just interested in getting Bin Laden. We're just disposable to him. Plus, he sent me even if I wasn't supposed to go..."

"You were the one who signed up to the army esé" Carlos continued. Brian made a point about the sole survivor rule applying even in these modern times.

"Oh God..." Carlos' mood changed on hearing the news. "Sorry man, I never knew. But I'm sure Powell didn't mean for you to go through much more hell."

"Tell that to the 350 stitches in my right fucking leg." Brian retorted. "It's mostly metal down there now." Billy and Carlos exchanged a glance, and were surprised to see that Senator Powell was coming towards them, having followed a suggestion from Chris that he should meet S.T.A.R.S' newest member. He headed over to them and gingerly butted into their conversation.

"Excuse me?" He said politely, "Aren't you Brian MacFarlane, the new guy around here?"

"Yes sir, I am." Brian replied with mock politeness. The Senator smiled.

"I remember you from somewhere actually. Didn't I present you with some medals shortly after you came back from England? Purple Heart, Soldier's Medal and Distinguished Service Cross if I remember correctly."

"Yes sir, you are correct." The Senator was overwhelmed by Brian's politeness.

"Well then Brian, I'm expecting good things from someone with your talent. I hope you do this organisation proud." He gave each of the three men a glance. "Gentlemen". He turned and went off to speak to some of the other survivors. When Senator Powell's back was turned, Brian gave him an array of rude hand gestures. Carlos held his head in his hand. You always knew things had stooped low when even he was holding his head in his hands.

"Jesus..." Carlos laughed, "The line's way over there in Pittsburgh and you've stepped over it by miles." Brian just gave a why-do-I-bother kind of shrug. After what had happened the previous night, he really wasn't in the mood. He hadn't slept, he was tired and he just wanted to go back to sleep. The nightmares always took a lot out of him and the fact Powell was here was bringing back memories of his painful yet thankfully full recovery from his injuries. He knew inside that he had not told Rebecca the full story of what happened in Kandahar that night, even if the story was graphic and full of detail to begin with. No one was going to know- Not Rebecca, not Carlos, not even Chris. Brian's stomach tied in a knot, he did feel some guilt over what he did to that one person that night. To the people of his country, he was a hero. But heroes don't do what he did...

"Nevertheless, it was pretty damn funny" Carlos smiled. Brian separated from Carlos and Billy and headed for the buffet table. He stood by Jill who was picking at the selection of cakes in an attempt to satisfy her sweet tooth.

"I saw you with Powell. And I heard that you've picked up a lot of silver. Is there something you've got against him?"

"Ever seen _Johnny Got his Gun_?" Brian asked.

"No" Jill replied, taking a bite of cake.

"Rent that movie, absorb its plot, and then get back to me." Brian helped himself to a sandwich and took a bite, not bothering with a plate. Jill could see something was up, he wasn't like this yesterday. The Brian of yesterday was shy, yet eager to impress. Sunday Brian was snappy, miserable and looking fed up.

"Um... Are you okay, Brian?" Jill asked, concerned. Brian's eyes were slightly bloodshot, but there was no smell of alcohol on his breath and he didn't possess the signs of a hangover or intoxication. Brian just sighed, shaking his head. He didn't know. But instead of lie to Jill, he gave her as much of the truth as he could. A battlefield dream... That story would do for now.

"How are you settling in at Rebecca's place?" Jill asked. Brian perked up at this question, being reminded of where he was spending his nights lately was enough to put a warmer feeling in his otherwise at the minute cold heart.

"I absolutely love it. Raccoon City's probably the best place I've ever been to: It's quiet, great scenery and has a load of history. I'm sorted for life here. Rebecca's done so much for me since I've been here. So I'm gonna repay the debt by taking her out to dinner tonight." He blushed at what he just said. Jill just chuckled.

"That's fine. I got no problem with team members dating." She put his hand on Brian's shoulder, and Brian gave her a funny look. "Just kidding". Brian just shook his head and stared at the memorial, and could only imagine the horror everyone went through. "It's woken me up a little" he told Jill as they ate, briefly touching on his injuries. "A couple of years ago I used to think what happened was the worst thing ever and no one could ever come close to feeling what I did... But then I came here... I'm so sorry about the others... Excuse me..." He left to go to the toilet. Jill asked Carlos to keep an eye on him, but out of respect didn't say anything about the day before...

Meanwhile, while everyone was downstairs, Chris was at his desk in the S.T.A.R.S office, he picked up the phone and dialled a number that Senator Powell had given him that morning.

"Hello?" asked a female voice at the other end.

"Hello, is that the Griffin Test Facility in Michigan?"

"It is, yes" the voice answered. "May I ask how you got this number? This is a military facility you know."

"My name's Christopher Redfield, I'm the leader of S.T.A.R.S based in Raccoon City. You may have heard of us. One of your researchers is part of us now. Brian MacFarlane."

"The name rings a bell." The receptionist replied, "But we have a few MacFarlanes here. What is it you're enquiring about?" Chris gave a blunt explanation as to what had happened outside the bar and requested that a team be sent over to investigate.

"I'm sorry sir" said the receptionist, "But some people have gone down with a pretty nasty stomach virus and we can't have anyone entering or leaving the facility right now. Could I ring you back when we can allow people back in? I'll have a word with the base commander for you."

"That would be great" Chris replied. "I look forward to hearing from you. Get well soon."

"Thank you sir." The receptionist put the phone down and so did Chris. He chuckled to himself and reclined into his seat.

"Stomach virus... I haven't heard that one before." He got up and headed downstairs to let everyone know the news.

"Would they use a stomach virus to cover it up?" Richard asked Brian.

"Nah, they wouldn't do that. People know it's there, you can see it from the top of a ridge that's popular with walkers and such. I used to go there all the time at weekends. Luckily, it's quite an aesthetically pleasing complex."

"I think what Richard means", Kevin continued, "is that they don't people snooping around the building."

"I don't see why there's all the security there is, there's nothing to hide. I mean, pictures of the weapon I was testing have been uploaded to the internet for anyone to look at. I guess there is actually a bad stomach virus going around. Give them a week or so, they'll call back."

"Yeah, I guess we'll have to wait by the phones for a while." Chris sighed. "This case is just too weird. I'll drop a note off in the NWR so they can give us a call if the facility decides it does want us looking around."

They hung around the station until about 4 o'clock, when the cleaners came in to clean up the buffet tables and get everything sorted for the next working week. The officers who were on duty went back to their offices while others went home one by one, until only Chris, Barry, Jill, Rebecca and Brian remained. Brian, Jill and Rebecca were helping to stack some chairs, while Chris talked with Barry by the main reception desk.

"Once I get the all clear to go into the facility, I'll send your team in. There'll be a lot of people to question in there." Chris instructed.

"But I only have two men besides myself." Barry protested.

"I know your team is a little understaffed right now, so I'll let you choose two of the best S.P.F men to go with you. Start the selection tomorrow if you want to. You'll be over there as soon as I get permission from the facility commander."

"Sure thing Chris. I'll give you constant updates." Barry turned to his colleagues who were over the other side of the room.

"I'm heading off home" he called, giving them a wave. "See you all tomorrow" The others turned to him and gave them a wave. Barry then turned to Chris. "Could I get a list of all the S.P.F guys and their stats?"

"Yeah, you should be able to get that from their offices on the first floor" Chris replied. "See you later." Barry headed for the door. Chris headed over to Jill and the others to help them stack the chairs.

"You go home" Jill insisted, "We'll handle it from here."

"Are you sure?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, we'll be fine, besides, we're almost done."

"Fair enough" Chris conceded, and headed towards the main doors.

By 1615, all the chairs had been stacked up and the cleaners were starting to take them back to the huge storage shed out the back by the emergency stairs. Brian put his hands on his back and pushed his hips forward, making a funny face as he felt all the vertebrae crack; something he felt he had to do to keep him feeling loose and ready for anything as his back was one of the main parts of his skeletal structure affected by his accident.

"I don't think I've done so much heavy lifting in such a short space of time." He joked. Rebecca put her white gloves on the reception desk.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom, then we'll head home" She said, heading for a door on the right hand side of the back wall. When Rebecca was out of earshot, Jill leant on the reception desk and folded her arms.

"So where are you going tonight?" She teased.

"I spotted a restaurant slash bar type place near where Fox Street meets Brent Street which looked pretty cool. Two courses for two people at $15, so the food should be pretty good."

"You mean the English Pub, The Red Lion?" Jill seemed to know what it was about. "I've been in there a few times with a couple of ex boyfriends. It's good in there if you want food, but if you're out with friends, Jack's is better." Rebecca then came out of the toilets, Brian picked up her gloves for her.

"Thanks for the tip." He gave Jill a discreet smile and headed for the door with Rebecca, giving her the gloves on the way out, and Jill followed closely behind.

The pair sat in Rebecca's car, a white 2001 Toyota Avensis, with Rebecca behind the wheel and Brian in the passenger seat. They were heading for the supermarket instead of home.

"Any ideas on what we're gonna have tonight? I'll let you choose." She said, focused entirely on the road.

"Nothing" Brian replied, with a voice of certainty. Rebecca gave him a quick glance before keeping her eyes back on the road.

"What do you mean 'nothing'?" She asked.

"What I mean is that you have done far too much for me these last couple of days. You've patched me up, you've taken me into your home, moved my things in, cooked me dinner and helped me address the problems I've been through in my life. We're going out for dinner tonight, my shout." He let out a little laugh as he remembered something she had told him the other day, "And I'm not taking 'no' for an answer." He gave Rebecca a quick glance. "Besides, we've earned it, with the work we've had to put in the last few days." Rebecca blushed a little.

"Ok Brian, you win. I guess I have been going out of my way to help you feel at home here."

"I feel I owe you as well, after last night anyway." Brian continued. Rebecca gave an innocent smile, and turned off down a narrow street, which would lead them back to the apartment building.

"You certainly know your way around." Brian joked.

"Even though I was born in St Louis Missouri, I know this city like the back of my hand" Rebecca replied. She pointed at a small town house painted white. "That's where my mom and dad live. I should really pay them a visit since I haven't done so since my aunt died of cancer six weeks ago. I should really visit the grave at some point as well. She was my favourite aunt after all, and when she was taken ill I tried to avoid her to stop myself being overcome with emotion."

"I'm sorry." Brian said sympathetically. "That's not a nice thing to happen to anybody, especially to someone you loved."

After getting changed into something a lot less formal, which were jeans, Converse shoes and Boston Red Sox shirt for Brian, and jeans, skate shoes and blue t-shirt for Rebecca, they walked a couple of blocks down the road to find the traditional English pub that Brian had been discussing with Jill. It was built to look like an old English pub as well, with the Tudor styling and traditional pub sign hanging off the side.

"I've never been here" Said Rebecca. "I've been past it so many times but never actually been in."

"I saw it yesterday when running to work" Brian explained. He opened the door and led Rebecca in. The Pub's décor inside kept up with the exterior. The place was meant to look old and was actually quite small on the inside. There were tables and chairs towards the front door, and at the back was a pub restaurant, with young waitresses serving traditional British meals to patrons, or as they're called in the UK, 'punters'.

"This is cosy" said Rebecca, admiring the interior.

"Yeah" Brian agreed with her, "I went into a lot of these places when I was in the UK. Great places these are. They always make you feel welcome." They sat down at a table, and the pub's owner came over to them.

"Good evening" he said in an English accent, which was as authentic as you could get. This was an English pub run by English people. This wasn't an American trying to pull off an English accent. "What can I get you two?" Brian read through the menu, as did Rebecca. Rebecca had not heard of half the dishes.

"You spent six months in England, not me!" she laughed, "What do you think?" Brian recognised one of the dishes.

"I'm going to have the roast beef with Yorkshire pudding." He closed the menu and looked at Rebecca. She too folded the menu and placed it on the table.

"I'll have the same I guess." The pub landlord took the menus and looked at Brian curiously, so Brian briefly explained his story. The landlord left with their order and the two S.T.A.R.S members waited patiently for their dinners.

They sat at the table in the main part of the pub drinking and talking.

"Since I left the test facility I have been trying to bring my drinking under control." He explained. "Every time I get depressed, or really upset, I drink, and I drink, and I drink. Mom and dad's birthday, I get wasted, September 11th, I get wasted; November 13th, I get wasted. Christmas Day, I get wasted. And every time I have a flashback to my accident, I drink myself into a hole to try and forget it. Last night was the only time I'd had a flashback and not got absolutely shit faced. I guess it was because I had someone with me at the time. Every other time I have been alone and not had anyone to keep an eye on me, because I'm really unstable when I'm depressed. Since I left the test facility and joined the police, that's when I've started to get my life back on track. I now only drink socially because I have people around then. When I was at the facility, my friends would often come in and find me passed out on the floor of my dormitory on Friday nights. Luckily I didn't do anything on weekends otherwise I would have been kicked out."

"What do you make of the so called 'stomach bug' that's going around?" Rebecca asked, changing the subject since listening to all this upset her, and from looking at Brian all that time, it looked like it upset him too, but he seemed to be becoming rather open about it given the circumstances. She wanted to help him, but she was just a field medic- not a therapist. But she also had things going on such as her aunt and what had happened six years ago in the mountains. If she could talk to Brian about her problems, then she should at least listen to his. But when Brian went along with the subject change, maybe it was better for him to try not to think about it. From Rebecca's point of view, Brian was a nice guy. He was friendly, he was talkative despite appearing to be shy and he was a very good looking guy, but they had to stay as friends. They couldn't jeopardise their careers for a relationship that may not last.

"I think they might actually have something going around" Brian replied, taking a sip of his drink. "Food hygiene wasn't that place's strong point, and no one ever washed their hands after using the restrooms."

"How long do you think it'll be before we get to start an investigation?" She wondered.

"I don't know. A week? Maybe two? The army has a good healthcare plan. It shouldn't be too long I would have thought." Brian moved his drink over so that their dinners could be placed on to the table. They thanked the landlord and they started to eat. Rebecca started to tuck in, starting with the Yorkshire pudding, which had been soaked in gravy.

"Hey!" She said enthusiastically. "This is good! I'm getting the recipe when we get home!" Brian laughed as she started on the rest of the meal.

"I told you it was." He then started on his food. They ate in silence for a couple of minutes, before Rebecca broke it.

"I'm intrigued", she said, placing her knife and fork on the plate and using a napkin to wipe her mouth with.

"About what?" Brian asked, putting the last of his beef into his mouth, and in the process dropping some gravy onto his jeans. "Oh cock!" he exclaimed.

"The facility you worked at. What sorts of things were being tested?" Brian finished the last of his dinner and placed his knife and fork on the plate.

"Weapons mainly, I was on the OICW program so we were involved with the testing and development of the rifle. I was also a weapon maintenance guy as well. We'd get weapons sent to us and I'd clean and service them. Sometimes I'd do entire eight hour days stripping, cleaning and oiling guns five days a week. Part of the reason I had to get out really." Rebecca finished the last of her dinner and put her knife and fork down.

"So I think we'd better hope we get there quickly." She explained, "God knows what else that sniper took." Brian just nodded his head.

"Most of the stuff in there is fairly advanced. I don't think the joint chiefs know much about some of the stuff we were testing in there." The landlord came over and took their plates for them.

"Was everything alright for you?" He asked with immense politeness.

"It was great, thank you." Rebecca replied.

"Can I interest you in a dessert?" The landlord smiled.

"I'd love to, but I really can't fit anything else inside me right now." She replied, holding her stomach. She looked at Brian, "What about you?" Brian looked back at her and then turned to the landlord.

"I think we'll just have the bill."

"Certainly sir, I'll just go and get it for you." He left and headed to the bar where he kept all the notes for the orders, and came back to see Brian fumbling in his wallet for two twenty dollar bills. He stood up and gave it to the landlord.

"Keep the change as tip" He said. "See you again". He and Rebecca headed for the door.

"I'll look forward to it." He called after them.

Rebecca and Brian headed up the road towards the apartment.

"What a nice guy" Rebecca said, really impressed by the way the pub landlord had served them. "Is everyone in England like that?"

"Most of them", Brian replied, "Others are just assholes who grunt at you the whole time, mainly the teenagers. Chavs and Hooligans I think the locals call them.

"Hooligans?" Rebecca asked. "What a stupid name!"

"Yeah", Brian laughed. "It's not quite the same as 'Crip' and 'Blood' is it?"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Susie's Cafe, Stoneville Colorado. June 16th 2004. 1230

"What's this?" the young officer asked.

"You know Raccoon City?" Scott, his partner replied. The officer just nodded. "S.T.A.R.S are looking for someone. Boss asked me to pass this on to you. You're clearly more than qualified. Why waste your talents somewhere like here? Fill in this form, I'll pass it on to my buddy at the R.P.D. You're a shoe-in for getting the placement, you've got talent beyond your years.

"Look... I don't know" his partner said uncertainly. "I heard selection is a tough thing to go through."

"Always so uncertain, aren't you? Never sure of what you want. You'll be great, trust me. Now... Who's got a pen?"...

S.T.A.R.S office, September 28th- 0915:

The S.T.A.R.S members arrived at work slightly later than usual, as although they had to be at the station all day in case of a call out, their investigation into the murder outside the bar had come to a standstill because of a bad stomach virus at the military testing facility, and they were not allowing anyone to enter or leave the facility to stop the virus from spreading. Chris, Brian, Richard and Jill were all sat at their desks, filling in some paperwork and talking about the various things Brian had seen in the facility, as well as having some musicplaying on the stereo. Leon walked in after they had been talking for about five minutes.

"Hey Chris, any word from the facility yet?"

"No, not yet" Chris replied, "If I don't hear anything by Thursday I'll call them back and see how they're getting on, and get an estimate on when I can send Bravo Team over to investigate." Suddenly, the radio dispatch man came over the radio in the S.T.A.R.S office. Chris quickly turned down the stereo so he could hear it. Jill and Brian turned from their desks to look at the radio, and Rebecca stuck her head in from the medical room to see what was going on.

"Attention all S.T.A.R.S units, proceed to an emergency at Smiths and Son's warehouse in the old warehouse district on East Elloe. Shots fired, repeat, shots have been fired!" Chris jumped up from his desk.

"Jill, Brian, Rebecca and Richard, you're with me. Leon, you stay here and watch the radio in case we need assistance, call everyone else up here and wait for further instructions from me." Leon headed for the intercom over by the radio and pressed the red button by the microphone.

"Attention" he said in a serious voice "All S.T.A.R.S members come to the office immediately. That's all S.T.A.R.S members to the office immediately. This is not a drill, I repeat: This is NOT a drill." Chris, Brian, Jill and Richard headed for their storage lockers and started putting their Kevlar jackets on. Brian picked up his L85, popped a clip in, cocked it and flicked the safety on, as well as donning his beret. Jill grabbed her G36, which had been heavily modified with night vision scope, laser pointer and flashlight, and Jill also putting her beret on, while Rebecca grabbed her bag of medical supplies and an MP5 sub machine gun. Richard slung his shotgun ammunition sash over his shoulder and cradled his SPAS 12 Semi Automatic shotgun. Chris picked up his M4, which he too had modified, but with a flashlight, red dot scope and foregrip attachment which allowed greater accuracy. They gave their weapons a quick check, adjusted their Kevlar jackets to make them feel a bit more comfortable, put the spare magazines into their jacket pouches and headed into the back of the locker room, where there was a lift that took them directly to the car park in the basement, where their van and driver were waiting for them.

The warehouse district was in the industrial area of the city in the north east of the city, close to where the freeway heads south towards Denver and Aspen. The area was a new addition to the city, put up when the city was rebuilt to house building materials and other things. After the city was complete, the building companies sold the warehouses off to companies to store their stock or convert them into carpet shops and electronics stores. The S.T.A.R.S van pulled up outside one of the warehouses where four regular squad cars and an ambulance were parked, and officers had fenced the area off. The warehouse they were looking for was also known by the name of Warehouse No 8 by the security teams. The four members of Alpha Team jumped out of the van and were led by Chris over to an officer in charge.  
"What's the situation?" Chris asked in a serious tone.

"No one's gone in yet sir" The officer explained, "We've heard reports that firearms have been used, and none of us here are really trained for this sort of situation." Chris looked at the small front door to the warehouse.

"Alright then." He looked at the other members of his team. "Follow me." They moved quickly and quietly over to the door. Jill opened it and Brian, the team's scout and point man went in first, with Jill and Richard entering in a tactical formation whereby Jill entered from the left side and ended up on Brian's right while Richard did the opposite, with Chris and Rebecca bringing up the rear as marksman and rear guard respectively.

The ground floor was dark, someone had shot the lights out, but luckily was all clear; there was nothing amiss about the main storage area. The team all switched on their flashlights to have a look around. Searching every nook and cranny, Richard found something. It was a silver coloured ladder that had been locked in the up position, like the emergency one that used to be in the R.P.D's main hall.

"Chris!" he called, "I think what we're looking for might be up there!" The others joined him. Rebecca shone her flashlight on the ladder along with Richard's to light it up a little more.

"Can any of you reach that?" Chris asked, and everyone looked at Brian since he was the tallest. Brian just shook his head.

"I'm tall, but I'm not that tall. I could have a go." He said with some confidence. He handed his L85 to Richard, who held a gun in either hand, lighting up the ladder with the others. Jill took a small torch out and held her G36 in one hand and torch in the other, with Chris doing the same.

"Make it quick Brian, these guns are heavy" said Jill. Brian had a good look at the ladder, and put his foot on the wall to test his boots' grip on them. He took a few steps back and ran at the wall. In a show of supreme athleticism he ran up the wall, jumped up off it sideways and was able to grab the ladder. He hung off with one hand momentarily and started to climb up the rest of it with just his hands, his legs dangling below. Once he reached the top he was able to release the lock on the ladder and he carefully slid it down, trying to make as little noise as possible. Chris was first to go up, he put his torch away, slung his M4 behind him and climbed up the ladder. Jill came up next, repeating the same process as Chris. Richard flicked the safety on Brian's rifle, threw the L85 up in the air and Brian hung over the edge and caught it by the barrel. Richard put his shotgun behind him and climbed up after Rebecca. The team headed along the catwalk at the top and came to a dead end.

"Are we sure we have the right place?" Jill asked curiously. Brian leant on the wall.

"Yeah, I'm sure. There wouldn't be as many officers outside if it was the wrong place." Chris replied. Brian could tell something wasn't right. His back was starting to get cold, but he had a hunch about something. He pulled out a lighter that he always kept on him, even though he is a non smoker, and held it to the wall. The flame started to flicker and went out. He lit it again and the same thing happened.

"Guys" He said, "There's a door here." Jill banged on the wall and found it to be hollow.

"He's right" she declared. Richard and Brian gave the wall a big push and it swung round revealing a lit corridor, which was elaborately decorated with velvet red wallpaper and had fancy lights in the ceiling.

"Crack house" Richard said to himself, but just loud enough for the others to hear. "It's got to be."

They carried on down the hallway, and through a door at the end. In the next room the lights were all off, so they searched the room looking for the light switch. Rebecca's flashlight caught a glimpse of Chris and noticed something on his white shirt.

"Chris?" she asked curiously, "You do know you have blood on your shirt, right?"

"What do you mean?" He asked back. Jill found the light switch and turned them on. Chris looked at his shirt and noticed a large spot of blood spreading out across his shoulder. "Where did that come from?" He then felt something land on his head. Looking up he saw that a young woman had been decapitated and was stuck to the ceiling with duct tape.

"SHIT!" Chris jumped back scared as the duct tape started to peel away and the woman fell to the floor with a loud thud. Brian headed to one of the other doors in the room and poked his head through. Once he saw what was on the other side, he turned and called to the others.  
"Um, Guys! You might want to see this!" He bashed the door open fully, because of something on the other side blocking it and they all entered the room to find blood everywhere. It was on the ceiling, on the floor, on the walls and the bodies that the blood once belonged to were all over the floor as well. Some of them were missing limbs, others missing their heads. Jill covered her mouth and started to vomit in the corner of the room. Richard bent down and examined one of the bodies.

"Do you think it's got any connection with Friday night?" He asked, checking every wound on the body. Brian and Chris checked over a body as well.

"Some were killed by a knife; and others by gunfire." Chris said, giving a body a thorough check. Whoever did this must have slit their throats and drained them. This has happened very recently, and some of these crack heads have been shot and or stabbed repeatedly. The blood's not even started to dry. How long do you think they've been here Rebecca?" He

asked the youngest member of the team, calling upon her medical expertise.

"I don't know" Rebecca replied, giving the blood a close examination. "About half an hour to forty five minutes at most I'm guessing. It's still squelching under our feet."

"Keep your guard up guys, the killers might still be in the building." Chris warned. Brian found one of the discarded cartridges lying on top of a dead prostitute. Examining it carefully he found that it was similar to something he'd seen before. Jill had finished being sick and headed over to him.

"What is it?" She asked, wiping her mouth and looking incredibly pale. Brian stood up.

"This cartridge" He said, holding it out so Jill could see, "It's off the OICW." The bar sniper's still hanging around town." He put the cartridge in his side pack, and he saw Chris standing in front of one of the walls.

"What's that you're looking at?" Richard asked, getting up and heading over to Chris. There was some writing on the wall that looked like it had been scorched into the wallpaper.

"I hate you all" Chris began, reading it out aloud, "I hate you with every bit of resent I have inside me. You messed everything up." He looked under the main message and there were a group of letters under it. "T, G, TV 2004... What could that mean?" Suddenly, one of the doors inside the room the S.T.A.R.S team was in opened and a young white man in his early to mid 20s came out, holding his abdomen and was covered in blood. He was horribly wounded and could barely walk. The S.T.A.R.S team all pointed their guns at the stranger who took two steps into the room and collapsed. Rebecca quickly unfastened her tactical gloves and put on some rubber ones and ran over to see if he was ok, with Richard standing over him with his shotgun. Brian went into the room to see if it was all clear, while Chris radioed the officers downstairs to bring in an ambulance, the coroner and a forensics team.

"Are you ok?" Rebecca asked the man, who was bleeding heavily and in a severe state of shock.

"Some guy" the man began "Some guy came in... He... started shooting, breaking necks and slitting throats. He... Killed... everyone."

"Are you the only one left?" Richard asked.

"Yes" the man answered, "I was the one... who called police... I'm... an undercover officer." The man closed his eyes, and was breathing slowly and deeply, trying to get as much oxygen as possible into him.

"It's ok, you'll be fine." Rebecca assured him, as she tried to save the officer's life.

The S.T.A.R.S team minus Richard and Rebecca left and headed outside. Jill sat on the step at the back of the S.T.A.R.S van with a bucket, as she still felt queasy, while Brian sat on the ground, using the front bumper of a patrol car to help him sit up. He held his beret in his hands and had his knees drawn up.

"So we definitely know now" Brian confirmed to her, "That this guy is after R.P.D officers, not just S.T.A.R.S. I've heard we've had a few guys inside these places trying to rat out drug dealers and expose crack houses, and I heard from some of those guys that four R.P.D officers were killed in that 'raid' by our bar sniper." Jill caught sight of the body bags being taken out of the warehouse, and vomited into her bucket. Richard and Rebecca joined at that moment and couldn't help but laugh, while Jill buried her head into the bucket and stuck her middle finger up at them. Chris headed over to them, while Rebecca began cleaning herself of the officer's blood with some antiseptic wipes from her medical pack that was on the left side of her belt. Her hands were clean, but her once pristine white vest and her green shirt and trousers were now different shades of red. Chris, Brian and Rebecca all had blood on their knees and lower legs from where they had been kneeling in the bloodbath, and Rebecca's rubber gloves were caked in it.

"You'll be glad to know that the officer we found is going to be fine." Rebecca told them. "A few days in hospital and he'll be on the mend in no time." She looked at Jill, who was looking quite ill. "You ok?" She joked. Jill rolled her eyes back into her head and keeled over her bucket. They climbed into the back of the S.T.A.R.S van and headed back to the precinct.

"How did it go?" Asked Leon as they entered the S.T.A.R.S office and began taking their body armour off.

"Apart from a lot of dead people and someone throwing up everywhere, rather well." Chris explained positively. Jill closed her locker and walked over to her desk.

"Oh fuck off Chris." She sat down and rested her head on desk, using her beret as a pillow and took a nap. Chris turned back to Leon.

"There's going to be a load of paperwork for this one, and we might have expanded on the case a little bit more."

"Really? How so?" Leon asked, intrigued. Chris explained their theory and turned to the other members who were present in the room.

"You can all go back to whatever it was you were doing before you were all called up here." He announced. Billy, Kevin, Carlos, Leon and Barry left the room, closely followed by Rebecca, who was heading to the hospital to do some more research on the haemostatic medicine she was developing with them. Brian, Richard and Chris took out some papers from their drawers and started to fill in the paperwork regarding the incident at the warehouse. Jill on the other hand, was fast asleep on her desk. Chris finished his account of events from the warehouse and placed it in his 'in' tray so that he could take it to the commander at his weekly meeting. He saw Jill asleep on her desk and headed out into the second floor lounge where he used the vending machine to get a bottle of flavoured water out. He took it back in to the office and placed it beside Jill. She drearily woke up and sat up with a groan.

"Ugh" she said, rubbing her eyes, "I feel like hell." She noticed the bottle of water that Chris had placed on her desk. "For me?" She asked, yawning. Chris nodded his head. "Thanks Chris." She remembered the paperwork that had to be done. "Oh crap, the paperwork"

"Don't worry about it" Chris assured her. "I'll just let the commander know that you weren't feeling to well in the meeting on Friday." He put his hand on her shoulder. "You just rest there for the time being." Jill put her head back down and went back to sleep.

At lunch time, Chris, Brian and Richard headed for the hot dog wagon just up the road from the police station. They were sat on a bench eating when Chris's mobile rang. Richard and Brian watched as he had a conversation with the forensics officer who ran the forensics sweep of the warehouse. Chris sighed and put his phone in his pocket.

"What was that about?" Richard asked. Chris explained that other than Jill's fingerprints on the light switch and Brian's fingerprints on the door handles, the forensics team found nothing out of the ordinary. Brian shook his head.

"They found nothing on the rooftop of the store across the street from the bar either. This guy is good."

"Yeah" Chris agreed with the newest addition to the S.T.A.R.S team, "I've got a feeling that if we can get into the test facility we can blow this case wide open." He sighed, and slouched a little on the bench. "We'd best head back to the precinct; we can at least try to work something out there." The three men stood up, put their rubbish in the bin and headed back to the office.

When they returned, Jill was gone and Rebecca had since returned from the hospital. When she heard Chris enter, she came running out of the medical room proudly holding a medicine bottle filled with a strange green liquid.

"Chris!" she called excitedly.

"What is it Rebecca?" he asked, taken completely by surprise.

"We've finally got a sample of that haemostat, and we tested it on a patient who was in surgery and it actually worked!"

"That's great" Chris smiled, "But I guess there are just a few bugs in it that need to be ironed out." Rebecca explained that although it actually worked, it was only a temporary thing, and more research had to be carried out to make a more permanent version.

"At least it will stop the bleeding until a patient reaches a hospital or can get an evac out of a hostile zone." She said. Chris asked if Rebecca had seen Jill around, and Rebecca said that she had made an attempt at the paperwork and then gone out to get some fresh air. Richard put the stereo back on and changed the CD over to a rock ballad compilation album. After a few songs had been played, Barry came into the room, holding a package wrapped in brown paper and had all the usual hallmarks of a parcel.

"I've got a package here for you Rebecca" He said, looking at the address written on the parcel. Rebecca gave Barry a funny look.

"I don't remember ordering anything off the internet, or buying anything off the shopping channel."

"Could be a basketball, it looks quite round" Richard suggested, sitting on his desk and folding his arms. Rebecca hadn't played basketball since she was recruited into the old R.P.D way back in 1998. She took the package and looked at it carefully. There was an address that made sure that the parcel was delivered directly to the S.T.A.R.S office, and had a couple of postage stamps stuck above it.

"I don't like the look of this" said Brian concernedly, "Who gave it to you, Barry?"

"Postal worker, he saw me in uniform and asked me to give this package to Rebecca. Was a nice young guy, blonde hair, styled kind of like Richard's. Didn't catch the name, he wasn't wearing a name tag. Looked like a regular UPS guy." Rebecca picked at the tape that was sealing the parcel, and carefully peeled it away, she opened up part of the paper and saw something that made her scream and drop the parcel. As it hit the floor, the rest of the paper unwrapped and a human head rolled onto the blue carpet tiles, the head's eyes were still open and the mouth was locked in a permanent look of horror, as the victim was screaming as his head was removed from his body..

"Jesus Christ!" Richard called out. Chris stood up and took a look at the head.

"Right, that does it" he announced angrily "I want to know where that package has come from and who has sent it. I also want to find the guy that delivered it and see what he knows, I want to know who has been shooting people from rooftops, who's been mutilating drug dealers, and who's been bringing human heads into MY office!" Barry picked up the head in the brown paper and did the respectful thing of closing the eyes and mouth. He wrapped the head back up and held it tight as others wouldn't see what was inside it.

"I'll take this down to the morgue; Don will be able to get a positive ID on it there." He said, holding the head carefully in both hands. He headed out the office; Jill came in as Barry left.

"What's going on?" She asked, confused as to why Barry was leaving with a parcel.

"Some sick bastard has just sent Rebecca a human head" Chris explained. Rebecca was in shock as to what she saw. Jill went over to her and comforted her, while Richard tried to scrub the blood out of the floor with some carpet cleaner. "I'll send Kevin and Carlos out to investigate it."

"Talking of which" Jill explained, "I was talking with some officers who were on smoke break while I was on my walk and apparently last night one the night watchmen caught a guy skulking around the back of the storage shed, but before they could catch him, he just disappeared. They found a handgun back there, but when it was checked for fingerprints or DNA, there was nothing on it. He obviously knows what he's doing."

Rebecca's Apartment, September 28th- 1956:

Brian and Rebecca's apartment had a new addition to it this evening: The next door neighbours were out and they needed someone to look at their three month old daughter who was sleeping peacefully in Rebecca's room. Rebecca loved children, but often wondered that due to the life she lived and all that she had been through if it was worth having a child of her own. Sure, she wanted one ever since she was young like all young girls dream of, but the thought of her never being around always lingered in her mind. Her love for children showed when she and Brian were trying to calm the crying baby down not long after her parents had left for their night out.

"Yeah!" She said playfully while spinning the child through the air slowly. "You like spatial disorientation, don't you?" Being a fully qualified doctor as well as S.T.A.R.S medic who takes her job so seriously, found herself using the scientific terms for a lot of things without even realising it. "Look! Dancing phalanges!" She laughed, wiggling her fingers around in front of the child, making it giggle. Now the baby was sound asleep, Rebecca went to take a hot bath while Brian sat at the kitchen table, with some smooth jazz in the background and a notepad trying to piece everything together. Rebecca sat in the bath staring at a small round scar just above her left breast. Its texture wasn't that much different to the texture of her velvet smooth skin, but she always was a little self conscious about it. She would hardly wear low cut tops since the scar was so noticeable. It was from where Albert Wesker shot her in the mansion labs, and after six years, it had refused to heal completely. She looked down at it and sighed. Being so young at the time she was still feeling the aftermath of that horrendous night, but she had nerves of steel, and refused to let it show when around others, particularly Brian, seeing as he was the new guy in town, her flatmate and that after everything he had told her- hard as nails. She did feel a little hypocritical though. The other night Brian had told her everything of his demons yet she kept a lot of hers to herself. She rubbed herself down with a soapy flannel and sank into the warm water, two scented candles helping her to relax.

Back in the main living area, Brian had written down everything that had happened between Friday night and Monday morning, and was trying to connect everything together like on a dot to dot puzzle. He put the pencil down and slouched into the chair, staring at the notepad. What could it all mean? Suddenly, he heard something hit the window on the other side of the room. Thinking it was just a small bird; he ignored it, but was worried to find that the window was being repeatedly pounded by something. Brian trod carefully over to the window and opened it. He poked his head out and was hit on the forehead by a small stone.

"Hey!" he called, thinking it was some kids messing around outside and didn't want the neighbour's baby being woken up. "Cut it out!" He closed the window and headed back to the table. He didn't get halfway across the room before the hail of stones started hitting the window again. Brian turned and opened the window again. "I'm a police officer you know!" He closed the window again and once made another attempt at getting back to work. But, once again, the stones started hitting the window once more. Brian got really agitated and opened the window again angrily.

"What the fuck do you want?" He yelled in a distinctive Boston accent. There was a quiet chuckle from down below

"So you're with S.T.A.R.S" a male voice replied, but it was too dark to see anyone.

"Yeah, and what do you want from me?" He called.

"Come down here and find out" The voice replied. There wasn't much emotion or emphasis in his voice, it was very dry and cold, and whatever the mysterious man said was straight to the point.

Brian left the window open, put on some shoes, and not wanting to take any chances, took his Beretta with him, as well as finding a torch in one of the kitchen drawers.

"Just heading out to grab something I left in the car!" He called to Rebecca in the bathroom.

"Ok, I'll see you in a minute, I'm almost done!" Rebecca called back. Brian left the apartment and headed down the flights of stairs and out onto the street, where the outside temperature had dropped, making it cold enough for Brian to see his breath condensate in the air. He went down the side of the alley and turned the torch on, looking up to see when he was in line with the window of his apartment. He used his torch to search his surroundings, but as he walked past a dust cart, a leg flew up in front of him, kicking the torch out of his hand and it fell to the ground, breaking the bulb inside. As Brian tried to search in the darkness for who attacked him, his gun was also taken out of his hand and he ended up having it pointed at him by a tall figure dressed in black trousers, black boots, black shirt, black gloves and a long black overcoat. Only his face was completely obscured, but the arm holding the gun was partially lit by excess light emitting from a small window at the top of the building landlord's bathroom. It was a big hand; a hand that looked like that it could deal some damage if this strange person was not holding a gun.

"I trust that your friend got my package." The strange man said coldly in a rather deep voice.

"So you sent that head in the mail" Brian replied sternly. I bet you had something to do with the crack house massacre this morning as well."

"Clever boy" the figure replied dryly. "I was the one who wrote that message on the wall as well. Managed to work out the little puzzle yet?"

"No."

"Then maybe the S.T.A.R.S aren't the crack organisation they claim to be. I'm surprised even Valentine hasn't been able to work it out."

"Wait a minute" Brian protested, "How the hell do you know all our names?" The figure let off the safety and kept the gun trained on Brian's torso.

"That's none of your concern... MacFarlane..." The mysterious man said sternly.

"So you killed everyone in the warehouse and butchered their bodies?" The stranger cocked the gun and pointed at Brian, the adrenaline was pumping through Brian's body and his heart was racing. "Were you the one who shot that guy in front of the bar as well?" The dark figure let out a quite chuckle.

"Hit men" He answered, his voice devoid of any emotion and as cold and dark as the environment they were in. "What a waste of money, I always say if you want something doing, the only way you can get it done your way is to do it yourself. I'm not a man who can tolerate failure, anyone who doesn't show me the respect I deserve or screws things up in a bad way gets terminated. Gary couldn't even take out an unarmed S.T.A.R.S member in the bathroom of a bar. But I was impressed with that move you used on him. It's a martial arts move I've certainly not seen before." He gave a sarcastic clap. "Now, no one outside of your little circle of friends is to know what you have seen here tonight, I might as well just shoot you now, but I'm going to let you live for now, because I have something here that might interest you." The stranger picked up a black sports bag and threw it in Brian's direction.

"The next part of your puzzle" the stranger said with a quiet laugh. Brian got down on one knee and opened up the bag to see what was inside. The stranger, seeing Brian distracted, flicked the safety back on the gun and tossed it down in front of Brian and ran into the darkness.

Once he had seen the strange man run off, Brian picked up the Beretta and gave chase down the alley, but when he ended up on the street, the man was nowhere to be seen. He showed his badge to a passer by and gave a description of the man he had just been held at gunpoint by. The civilian hadn't seen anything, so Brian headed back into the alley, picked up the sports bag, which was quite heavy, and headed back up to the apartment. He walked in just as Rebecca came out of the bathroom in her pyjamas and was drying her hair with a towel. She caught Brian placing the sports bag on the table. He closed the window and beckoned Rebecca to come over to the table.

"What's in the bag?" She asked, hanging the towel on a radiator to dry, and putting a brush through her hair.

"Some guy was in the alley throwing stones at the window, and when I went down to talk to him, he held me at gunpoint and explained that he was the one who shot the hit man, the one that butchered everyone in the crack house and the one who sent you that guy's head" he explained. "He seems to know a lot about the R.P.D and said that this bag had the next piece of the puzzle inside." He was about to unzip the bag when Rebecca stopped him.

"Wait there" She insisted. She headed to the first aid box in her store cupboard and pulled out a pair of latex gloves. "Put these on, it might have some prints on it." Brian put them on and unzipped the bag. He gasped at what he was seeing. "What is it?" Rebecca asked anxiously, having headed into her room to check on the baby. She was holding the little girl in her arms, getting ready to wake it up for a feeding. Brian looked at her and lifted an assault rifle out of the bag; it was loaded with two clips, one at the front, and one at the back... It was the murder weapon...

"The OICW" he said solemnly. He rested it on the table and searched the rest of the bag, and picked up six clips for each attachment: three for the rifle, three for the sniper. Brian ran to the phone and immediately rang Chris, explaining that the weapon used in multiple murders was in Rebecca's home.

The next morning, the members of S.T.A.R.S Alpha Team gathered round Chris' desk while the OICW and the clips lay on it. When Chris picked it up from Rebecca's apartment the night before he took it straight down to forensics where, like on Friday and Monday, found no evidence. There wasn't even a single fingerprint on the weapon to be found. There was an awkward silence while the team just stared at the strange weapon.

"So what happens now?" Richard asked after a while. Chris just gave a shrug.

"We'd just better hope we get a phone call and soon."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Raccoon City Police Department Training Facility, Arklay Mountains. August 22nd, 2004

"You wanted to see me?" The recruit shyly asked as he poked his head through the office door. Before him, sat at the table was Chris Redfield, leader of S.T.A.R.S.

"Yeah buddy, take a seat" The recruit sat down and Chris placed a file onto the table.

"You're good" He said bluntly. "Too good." When it comes to jobs like this, there isn't a 'too good'. You're a good find, and I'm promoting you already. When you join us properly, I want you to report to me and not Barry Burton. Is that okay with you?"  
"Um..." The recruit didn't really know what to say.

"Thing is" Chris continued, lounging back in his chair. "I've read what you've done in the Army. You've done things and survived shit that would completely ruin anyone else. But you've got through it... So my question to you is this: What do you do when you're not in that uniform?...

S.T.A.R.S Office, October 1st- 1345:

Chris sat at his desk filling in some paperwork regarding the seizure of the OICW assault rifle. The weapon was being safely kept in his weapons locker, and he was finding various pictures and technical specifications of the rifle, as it interested him greatly. Rebecca saw him looking at various pictures of the gun and walked over to him.

"Given that place a ring yet?" She asked. Chris looked up at her.

"I was just about to do that actually" he smiled. "I'll do it now while I'm at it." He picked up the phone on his desk and dialled the number Senator Powell had given him at the memorial service on Sunday. Rebecca watched as she heard the phone ringing faintly on the other end. It stopped and she heard a voice, but Chris put the phone down as soon as he heard it.

"Answer tape" he sighed, "I'll call them back in half an hour." Rebecca went back into the medical room and started checking the use by dates on all the medicines in the cupboards.

Half an hour later, Chris kept his word and gave the facility another try on the phone. Some other S.T.A.R.S members had entered the office since his last attempt, among them being Barry, Jill, Leon and Brian, who had taken his first visit to the firing range that morning to put the L85 through its paces. Chris took the phone from his ear and stared at it as there was an odd beeping noise coming from the receiver. "I can't get through" he claimed. "The line's not busy, it's just dead."

"Maybe a bird's flown into the telephone cables and shorted them out" Jill guessed. Chris gave her a funny look.

"It happens" Brian explained, "I remember in England they had a problem with swans flying into power lines and blacking out entire villages and towns. Maybe that's what's happened there."

"Maybe" Chris sighed. "Looks like we're going to be waiting even longer now..."

S.T.A.R.S Office- October 5th: 0915:

After four days of unsuccessful attempts to contact the army test facility in Michigan, Chris had finally had enough. He called all the S.T.A.R.S members into the office and they held a meeting. Two extra men were present, who were hand chosen by Barry to assist his Bravo team.

"Right guys" Chris began, standing behind his desk, "I'm sending in Bravo team to investigate what's going on out there. A government installation does not have communications completely cut off and not have them reconnected for four days. Stomach virus or no stomach virus, you lot are going in. I want constant updates as to your progress and interview everyone who is on that OICW program, got it?" The men on Bravo team all nodded their heads. "I've called in an Osprey from the local marine base to fly you out there. Good luck men." He walked round to the front of his desk and spoke with the two new additions to Bravo team, who were wearing an all black uniform with navy blue t-shirts, the opposite of Kevin, who was wearing navy blue armour and trousers with a black shirt. One of them was around 6ft tall, light brown hair and clean shaven. He was extremely well built and he looked like he could hold his own in a brawl, as well as being an excellent unarmed fighter. The other was slightly shorter, around 5'11, with sandy blonde hair, a bit of stubble and was not as well built. He made up for it in being extremely athletic and quick, and didn't have to rely on strength to overcome his obstacles. Barry had also chosen him for his team as he had proven to be an excellent sniper, who could scout out targets should the need arise. The tall one's name tag read 'Williams' and the shorter one's read 'Tucker'. Chris stood before them and gave them a reassuring speaking to.

"Ryan" he said to the tall one, "Brad", he then said to the other. "Do as Barry tells you to and you should be fine. This is different to your S.P.F work, as there will be a lot more investigation and question asking in this rather than guns going off." He looked at the rest of them. "I want answers. I want to know who is going around with government property shooting people. Good luck." Barry, Carlos, Kevin, Billy, Brad and Ryan saluted and Barry led them through a door at the back of the changing rooms that led on to the helipad.

Ten minutes passed and the precinct was shaken by the loud rotor noise of the Osprey, a plane that can take off and land as a helicopter and fly anywhere like a plane, landed on the helipad. Bravo team climbed up a service ramp at the back and strapped themselves in. The Osprey took off and they began their trip from south central Colorado to North Michigan, 25 miles southwest of Hancock, 77 miles southwest of Keewanaw Point, and 430 miles northwest of Detroit, the closest major city within the state; although Green Bay in Wisconsin is actually the closest major city.

"I sure hope they get some answers" Chris said to Jill as the pounding of the rotor engines got quieter and quieter as the Osprey flew off into the distance. He thought he'd give the facility another ring just in case they had fixed their communications problem and let them know S.T.A.R.S were on their way. It was no use, the communications were still dead. Chris sighed as the rest of Alpha team went about their work, oblivious as to what was going to happen to their colleagues…

Over The Keewanaw Peninsula, October 5th- 1250:

The closer Bravo team got to the North Michigan test facility, the denser and denser the fog became, as it rolled in off Lake Superior and settled in the hills that populated the area. Barry got up and headed for the cockpit, he leant over to the pilot's ear so he could hear what Barry had to say.

"It's getting really bad out there" Barry shouted over the noise. "Are you sure you can find this place ok?"

"Don't worry" the pilot assured him, "we've got the co-ordinates in the GPS. Give us fifteen minutes." Barry went back into the hold where the S.T.A.R.S sat, and told his team that they'd be arriving soon, as they were all starting to get uncomfortable.

"The Boeing Osprey... The only aircraft that can cause vibration white finger" Kevin joked to Ryan.

It was a perfect prediction by the pilot; 15 minutes later he came over the intercom to tell them that he was right on top of the facility, and could only just make it out the eight storey building which was the Griffin Military Test Facility, a fairly modern building, built in the late 80s to take some constraints off the Nellis Test Range and the Groom Lake Complex in Nevada. It was painted white, which made it hard to see in all the fog, but the red aircraft warning lights were on. The pilot circled the building, and tried to find a suitable place to land. He let off some throttle and descended down to 100 feet, tilting the propellers up so he could land like a helicopter onto one of the ground level helipads that surrounded the building. As the plane got down to around 75 feet, a red light appeared on the pilot's console, and an alarm started sounding.

"What is it?" The co-pilot asked worryingly.

"The electrics in the left engine have failed! I can't control her!" The left engine had failed to reach the upright position that was required for landing. The Osprey banked to the right and nose dived at a 45 degree angle into the helipad. The pilot and co-pilot were killed instantly, and the S.T.A.R.S members at the back were shaken, with only minor injuries, but still able to walk. Kevin, Carlos, Ryan and Brad managed to use what electrical power was left to release the tailgate, which slowly opened. They climbed up it and made a sharp drop to the concrete below.

"God damn it!" Kevin exclaimed as he landed on the ground. "It's freezing out here!" Carlos landed beside him holding his elbow, and his beige shirt had blood spots up the left sleeve. Billy assisted Ryan and Brad as they came out, with Barry coming out last, after confirming that both pilot and co pilot were dead.

"Something's wrong" Barry announced, shivering from the 2 degree Celsius temperature. "Why hasn't anyone come out to see if we're ok?" The other team members realised this and they all looked around. "Come on" he ordered, holding a small map in his hands. The main entrance is over there, let's go and investigate." They moved quickly over to the large glass doors that led into reception. Inside, there was nothing amiss; everything was as it should be. The chairs which visitors would sit in were neatly placed against the wall, the receptionist's desk was neat and tidy, and the plants and pictures that decorated the room were upright... But no one was present. Kevin climbed over the counter and went into the room with the photocopier and coffee machine in. He found nothing and came straight back out. He noticed the computer was still on and found that although there was still power within the facility, the internet connection had been cancelled. He tried the phone which was as dead as a doornail and saw that everything was still plugged in everywhere else. Billy looked through the window in an electronically locked door and no one was in sight.

"They're not all in the infirmary because of this stomach bug are they?" He said sarcastically.

"Can you get it open?" Barry asked.

"With pleasure." Billy used the hilt of his gun to smash the electronic keypad open which automatically released the lock. He pushed the door open and let everyone through before going through himself. They headed up the corridor, past various small offices for about fifty feet until they reached an intersection where the corridor carried onwards in front of them, off to the right and off to the left. Kevin was facing directly ahead, Billy off to the right, Carlos to the left, and Barry looked back down the corridor to where they had just come from, with Ryan and Brad standing in the middle.

"Which way do you want us to go, boss?" Carlos asked. Brad noticed something on the floor and got down on one knee to investigate.

"Barry, I've found something." Barry turned round and noticed that Brad was checking what looked like blood. Kevin, Billy and Carlos kept looking down the corridors to see if anyone was coming.

"What is it?" Barry asked curiously.

"This blood" Brad explained, "it's congealed, yet it looks like it's been dropped recently."

"So?" Billy asked dryly, giving Brad a quick glance before looking back up the corridor.

"It only does that after you die". He explained. Kevin lifted his Beretta into a firing position and pointed it down the corridor.

"Like that you mean?" He asked. Barry looked up the corridor to see that there was someone heading towards them in torn military uniform incredibly slowly. His ankle was severely broken and he dragged it along the floor. His skin was rotten and was covered in dry blood, he groaned as he shuffled his way towards them. Billy drew his gun and pointed it up his corridor as he saw the same thing.

"Holy shit..." Carlos drew his gun as well.

"Hijo de puta" He said in a shocked Spanish accent. An undead creature was heading his way as well. Barry turned round and could see that a pair of them had burst out of an office and were heading towards them.

"Barry" Kevin called with a scared quiver in his voice. "There're more of them coming, what do we do?"

"We run, follow me!" Barry led them straight ahead into a group of zombies, ordering them to aim for the head. Billy fired the first shot and the bullet hit its target right between the eyes. Barry pulled out his radio and made an attempt at reaching help.

Back in Raccoon City, some 700 miles away, the radio crackled as Barry's radio reception was interrupted by the sounds of gunfire and static from the blanket of fog outside. It didn't help that the radio that Barry had taken with him had been damaged in the plane crash.

"Chris, it's Barry! We've... Facility. Everyone... to... We're... attack by zom... Send help..." Richard was the only person in the office at the time; he ran to the radio and tried to establish contact with Barry.

"Barry, it's Richard here, what's going on?" Barry got straight back on the radio while running, as the reception between both radios was scrambled; Barry misunderstood 'Richard' for 'Leon'.

"Leon! Tell Chris to... Help. Need... badly... We're... on the run..." There was silence. The radio was dead.

"It can't be..." Richard thought. Thinking fast, he ran over to Chris' desk and pushed the intercom button.

"Chris Redfield and all other S.T.A.R.S members must come to the office for immediate departure. I repeat: Chris Redfield and all other S.T.A.R.S members must come to the office for immediate departure." He went back over to the radio and got in touch with the marine base that provided the Osprey and begged them to send another one. He then swiftly moved in to the medical room and grabbed all the T-Virus vaccinations and cures that were available and stuffed them into Rebecca's medical backpack. Even though the area had been declared void of the T-Virus, S.T.A.R.S didn't want to risk it. The other five Alpha team members came running into the office. Richard was already in the process of getting his armour and weapons all set to go. He briefed Chris and the others on what was going on. He handed Rebecca the rucksack with the bottles of Daylight capsules, a cure for the T-Virus and all her other medical supplies and she put it on her back, while also picking up her G36 assault rifle, which was modified with an attached flashlight and laser sight. She was the only S.T.A.R.S member not to have an SMG as well as an assault rifle, because of the extra load of medical supplies she has to carry everywhere. The others all got loaded out with both their assault rifles and their SMGs, but Leon realised that they would have to take extra weapons for Bravo team once they arrived. They weren't going to get caught out by a zombie outbreak again. This time they were going to be prepared.

They got into the lift down to the car park and ran towards the armoury, where they each took an extra handgun and picked up an MP5 SMG that they would give to Bravo team once they found them... They hoped... Chris outfitted them with a radio headset microphone that they would use to update each other with while they were there. Brian also carried a small video camera on his shoulder so he could scout out his surroundings and relay the images to Chris and the station. The only way they were to find the others would be to split up…

Meanwhile, back in the zombie ridden test facility; Bravo team had caught their breath and thought about what their next course of action would be in an office on the ground floor. They decided it would be best for them to split up into two groups of three and search the facility for survivors and ultimately, find out what happened to the place. Barry, Ryan and Brad went as one group, as Barry would be able to explain how to deal with the undead populace of the building, while at the same time Ryan would be working with someone he knew and got along with. Kevin, Carlos and Billy made up the other team, and they all agreed to try and find some discarded radios from any dead security guards they found to try and stay in touch with each other. Billy led his group north where they encountered three undead monsters. Instead of shooting them, they ran towards the zombies and used an array of hand to hand combat moves on them. Kevin kicked one of the zombies in the head, snapping its neck and killing it. Billy waited for the zombie to lunge and pinned it face first up against the wall before driving his knife into the back of its head before throwing it violently to the ground. Carlos got in behind his target and gave it a lethal German Suplex that totally decapitated the monster. They stopped to admire their handiwork and kept on going till they reached a set of stairs. They made their way up, looking back they saw a couple more zombies coming towards them, but they seemed to lack the intelligence to go up stairs, something that was of some relief to them.

Barry, Ryan and Brad had found it best to stay on the ground floor and search the offices for any potential ways of communication and find if any security team members had dropped any weapons along the way. In a large office where they handled all the calls to various bases informing them of new weapons that had been developed, they found a pair of dead security guards, that had been killed only fairly recently. Barry apologised to them and put a bullet through each of their heads to stop them regenerating into the undead. He let Ryan and Brad take the assault rifles while he stuck with his favourite .45 magnum for the time being. The office had been completely trashed. Papers littered the floor and computer screens were broken. All the phones were still plugged in, but because of someone or something cutting off the phone lines the internet connections and phones were completely dead. They were trapped. They couldn't go outside, it was far too cold and foggy and there was no telling what would have managed to get outside. Barry hoped to God that Richard would have been able to understand what he was trying to say and would have been able to get Chris to head out as soon as possible.

Heading through a door at the back of the room they found themselves in the male toilets. Ryan went in first to check it was all clear, closely followed by Brad and Barry. It was all clear, so they regrouped and worked out where they should try and make their way to next. Brad suggested that they try and make their way to the roof where they could at least try and send out a distress message with the radio. Barry thought that was a good idea, even if it might not work, but they had to try. As they turned to leave, one of the cubicle doors swung open and a zombie came bursting out, going straight for Ryan. Unluckily for him, the zombie was able to take a little nibble out of Ryan's arm. Ryan pushed the zombie off and Brad used his supreme athleticism to jump up off a wash basin and give a tornado kick to the zombie's head, breaking its neck in the same way Kevin had done to one minutes before. Barry had a look at Ryan's arm, it was bleeding a lot, but it was a much more serious problem than that: Their race for survival had just begun. Alpha team with Rebecca's medical kit needed to get there as quickly as possible or they would lose another S.T.A.R.S member to one of the undead. As the bite was only a minor one, Ryan would have at most nine hours to live...

In the skies above Midwest America, Alpha team was being briefed on what they could possibly encounter in the test facility. Brian listened incredibly carefully, as he had only heard about these things, never actually experiencing them. He learnt about how to kill a zombie in each of the four ways: Decapitation, incineration, breaking the neck and bullet to the brain. After the briefing, Rebecca stood up and gave everyone, including herself, a shot of T-Virus vaccine. Although Jill had received a cure for the T-Virus back in 1998 off Carlos, and it being her blood that the mass produced vaccine came from, there was no guarantee it would still work should she be bitten, so she was given a top up just in case. Rebecca also provided everyone with a medicine bottle full of 50 Daylight capsules and warned them that if they got bitten and for some reason the vaccine had not worked, they would have to take one as soon as possible, and have to take one after each zombie bite. She also warned that there was not an infinite supply in there so they'd have to be incredibly careful. Once the briefing and medical checks were complete, Brian got up and headed into the cockpit where he was to assist the pilot in finding the facility. The pilot was pushing the plane to its limit, exploiting every available knot the plane could muster to ensure that they got to the facility as quickly as possible, because air traffic control had sent them a long way round, once they reached the Canadian side of Lake Michigan, they had to be diverted along a specific route, Losing them precious time and fuel, meaning they had to get an air-to-air top up from a KC-35 tanker once they were back inside US airspace.

Over The Keewanaw Peninsula, October 5th: 1657:

The fog had made an attempt to clear, and the pilot of Alpha team's transport could see much more clearly than the pilot of Bravo's. He descended and flew incredibly quickly down the creek, with barely 5ft to spare either side of the wings.

"WHOOOO!" The flight engineer called in a cowboy voice, "Just like in Vietnam! Eh, slick?" He gave Brian a quick glance. Brian just folded his arms and smiled.

"I was born in '79, dickhead!" He shouted over the noise. He pushed the intercom button and told the others what was going on. Chris headed into the cockpit to give the pilot some instructions.

"When we land" He shouted, barely able to hear himself, "Don't bother waiting for us once we're out, just take off, and fly to Hancock airfield. We'll call you when we need picking up, there's no telling what's lurking out there. You're our only chance of getting out."

"Yes sir!" the pilot acknowledged, fully understanding the huge responsibility he had. The lives of the twelve most elite law enforcement personnel in the country, even more elite than the L.A.P.D's famous S.W.A.T team, were in his hands...

Still inside the facility, Kevin, Billy and Carlos were treading incredibly carefully, looking everywhere for potential threats. They had reached the second floor, which was where the research into various firearms took place. Unlike the first floor, which was mostly tidy, the second floor was a complete mess. There was blood staining the floor, blood up the walls, and looking into various computer suites they found that the rooms had been trashed when what researchers remained started looking frantically for weapons. Kevin spotted something a little further up the hallway, the three Bravo team members ran over to three bodies, dressed in all black combat uniforms, lying headless in a massive pool of blood. The bodies showed no signs of having been at one point a zombie, and the blood had dried, so they came to the conclusion that this must have happened in the last couple of days. Lying beside the bodies were two MP5 sub machine guns. Not taking a moment of hesitation, they grabbed them.

"We should be careful" Carlos suggested, "Whatever was able to take these guys' heads off might still be roaming the place. They carried rounded a corner and carried on a little further and thought about what they should do next.

"I think we should try and find the security office" He continued. "Who knows, there might be some guns and ammo left, as well as a radio that actually works." Kevin nodded his head in approval.

"You two go off and find it then." Billy suggested. "I'm gonna try and find out what took the heads off those guys back there and try and find ways to take it out." Billy turned and ran back round to where they found the dead unknown soldiers. Kevin and Carlos readied their MP5s and carried on forward to try and find the stairs to the next floor...

Back in the first floor offices, Ryan has used some paper towels and sticky tape as a makeshift bandage.

"Bastard won't stop bleeding" he complained. Barry looked out the window to see if there was a second transport arriving with help on board. He couldn't see anything and turned to comfort Ryan.

"Alpha team will be here soon" He said, putting a hand on Ryan's shoulder. "For now we've just got to keep moving." They left an office and tried to find the stairs to the next floor, which was made difficult because of the amount of zombies that were hanging around the bottom floor. Eventually, they found the stairs, and headed to the second floor, where they found the bodies of the fallen soldiers, but because Kevin's group had taken their SMGs, the only weaponry on them was their handguns, which Ryan and Brad picked up as quickly as possible. Brad suggested that they searched the rest of this floor for weapons as well, seeing as this was where all the research took place for new firearms. They headed into an IT suite, where Barry was able to pick up some bullets for his .44 magnum from a dead researcher, and Ryan picked off a zombie that was present in the room. On the body of the dead zombie, Brad found a diary. He sat on a desk as he read it out for Barry and Ryan.

"_September 21st:_

_Today I was moved from the sticky shocker project down to the OICW program. Since Mac's departure two years ago, they haven't been able to find anyone capable of pushing this new weapon to the limit. While I was really enjoying the sticky shocker project, the OICW is the weapon everyone's talking about. Two prototypes have been made so far, and as far as I know, everything is going smoothly._

_September 23__rd__:_

_I'm actually having more fun with the OICW than I did with the sticky shockers. For one thing, I'm not being used as a guinea pig for them, and I don't have to put up with being shot at 20 times a day. Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating, but that's what it felt like._

_September 24__th__:_

_We're all in massive trouble. In the dead of night one of the OICWs was taken. The General says he's going to personally murder whoever had stolen it. I'm the main suspect because I'm new to the project. I've never even laid eyes on the thing yet! I've only seen 3D images and I'm still in the process of learning what the thing does!_

_September 25__th__:_

_Mac rang up the facility this morning to announce that he was about to start work in Raccoon City's S.T.A.R.S division. He's so lucky; those guys are the best of the best. They win every mock terrorist heist that the various police departments of the country hold. Women want those guys and kids want to be them. Over here things are really starting to heat up. The General called me into his office and gave me a massive interrogation. But after checking the CCTV footage, I was let off the hook as it turns out I actually WAS in my dormitory all night. I also heard that some guys have gone down with a stomach bug upstairs as well._

_September 27__th__: Apparently, the OICW that was stolen from here has been used in a shooting in Raccoon City. Why would it be there I wonder? I heard from someone in the canteen that Chris Redfield himself rang up to try and start an investigation, but with people falling ill, we can't let anyone in or out. Shame really, those guys are my heroes, and it would be great to see Mac again._

_September 28__th__: I wanted to watch some videos on the internet but for some reason the internet had been completely cut off. I tried to ring tech support for some help but the phones are completely dead. I can't even make an internal call? What's going on?_

_October 1__st__: Research on the OICW has been put on hold because of this stomach virus. We'd better be still getting paid or I'm going to be really annoyed._

_Come to think of it, I haven't been feeling too good lately. I think I might have caught it._

_October 2__nd__. My skin is feeling incredibly itchy. I've had eczema before but this just takes the piss. Things just keep getting better and better. I'm also starting to throw up everywhere and its making my insides hurt, as well as that I'm always feeling incredibly hungry._

_October 3__rd__,__Morning: My pain is constant and sharp. And all I can think about is bringing this pain onto others. Make them suffer how I am suffering. My sanity hangs by a thread and I don't know with all the problems in the facility, I don't know how long I'll last. Confusion amongst everyone in this building has reached its maximum_

_October 3__rd__, Evening: All the guys who fell ill first on the 6__th__ floor have all turned to zombies! We don't know what to do; we're not trained to deal with them. Where the hell are S.T.A.R.S? They've dealt with this before, we're constantly sending out distress calls but there's no response. I think I might be one of the only few left. I'm running out of time, and I dare not go outside because I don't know if the dogs have been infected as well..._

_October 4__th__: I managed to kill a couple of zombies with a shotgun I stole off a dead security guard. I've made a promise to myself that once I'm down to one last shell, I would use it on myself. I've also seen a strange man dressed all in black escorted everywhere by soldiers dressed in black roaming the place. Who is he? I've never seen him here before, and I've been here for years._

_I fear this may be my last entry. Mom, dad, sis, I love you all..."_

Brad closed the diary and placed it on the table.

"September 26th, that was Saturday" Said Barry. "They started experiencing problems here the day after the shooting on Friday."

"And that guy seems to know people with the R.P.D" Brad continued. "He mentioned someone in S.T.A.R.S called Mac."

"Whoever Mac is" Ryan added, putting some more sticky tape on his 'bandage'. Barry knew who the writer was on about.

"He was talking about Brian in Alpha team" he explained. "He was in the office this morning. Really tall guy, sky blue shirt."

"Oh him!" Brad exclaimed. "I was with him on that bust the other week. He's a really cool guy."

"Yeah, well, he used to work here. Which is why I'm constantly hoping Alpha team will show up any time soon. Not only will Rebecca be able to help Ryan, Brian knows this place so we can get up to the roof and be extracted." Barry looked at his watch. "We need to find some survivors, if there are any. I want you two to go off as a pair and find what you can. If anything happens, dig in, don't give up. I'll investigate these rooms up here and head back downstairs a little later to search the offices again." The S.W.A.T men nodded and headed off out the door.

Outside The Test Facility, October 5th- 1720:

Back outside, Alpha team's Osprey came in to land on the ground level helipad at the front of the facility. So that the pilot would not be attacked by anything while unloading, he kept the Osprey slightly off the ground while Alpha team jumped out. When everyone was unloaded, Chris ran round to the front and signalled for the plane to leave. The engines picked up speed and the Osprey flew off as quickly as it could. The group followed Chris past the crashed Osprey.

"It's the mansion all over again" Jill said to herself. They ran into the reception area, where Rebecca noticed the broken door.

"They've been through here" She claimed, "That's typical Billy that is." Brian and Leon went up ahead, with the rest following about six feet behind. As they passed the intersection where Bravo team first encountered the zombies, there was a small explosion and part of the ceiling caved in. Leon and Brian were stuck on one side, with Chris and the others on the other side.

"We're cut off!" Leon shouted into his radio.

"You and Brian try and find Bravo team" Chris ordered. "We'll need to meet somewhere should anything happen." Brian activated his radio.

"The 5th floor deals entirely with security" He explained. "How about we meet up there? There might be some left over weaponry up there as well."

"Do it, Chris out." Chris sent Jill and Richard off in one direction to try and find survivors in the offices, while Chris and Rebecca also began their search for their comrades. Leon and Brian started running up the corridor before things started coming after them. The reached the end of the corridor and the path branched off to the left and to the right.

"The elevators are down here" Brian said, gesturing to the left. He adjusted his specially modified holster, developed by S.T.A.R.S so that if one team was caught underpowered in a sticky situation, members of the other team could bring another weapon for them without having to lose some mobility. Brian's had an MP5 for a Bravo team member and his P-90 as well. Leon had two MP5s, although his personal one was modified with laser sight and flashlight, as well as a night vision scope. His assault rifle of choice, like Jill and Rebecca, was a G36, which was also modified with laser sight and flashlight, with a red dot scope on the top. But, even though they all shared the same type of rifle, Leon's was the 'K' model, while Jill's and Rebecca's were the more compact 'C' models. They moved carefully forward, as Brian could hear something approaching. He signalled to Leon to stop, and carried on forward alone. As he neared the corner, a zombie appeared. He stepped backwards in horror as he had never seen a real one before. The only zombies he had seen were works of fiction in a George Romero film or on a video game.

"Brian!" Leon persuaded. "Just shoot it! One shot to the head! Go on!" As the zombie came closer, Brian thought it would be pointless using a weapon on one lone zombie. So he walked over to it and using his immense strength hit it hard over the head with the butt of his rifle, killing the zombie instantly and sending decaying brain mater all over the floor. "Well done" Leon praised. "Welcome to the prestigious club of zombie killers. Ten members and counting" he chuckled. He started to move ahead of Brian but Brian was stood still, looking down at the body.

Brian had another flashback to Afghanistan. He was in the apartment building he had taken shelter in on that fateful night in Kandahar, ordering Dale to take the Staff Sergeant to the roof. In the midst of the dust and the heat, he saw a man run into one of the apartments- Something triggered in Brian's head, and he ran after him and was able to trap him in the bathroom. Using his unarmed combat skills, the suspicious man was knocked to the floor and Brian used a cable tie to tie the man's hand to a water pipe on the sink. Brian drew his knife and cut the man's leg slightly.

"Please don't hurt me, American!" The man pleaded in a thick Arabic accent. Brian had bigger things to worry about, like if this man was carrying any explosives, but if he did have any, he would have detonated them by now. Just to be sure, Brian checked anyway. On this man's person was an American issue Beretta M9 pistol that Brian promptly ejected the magazine to and threw the gun out the window. After an intense interrogation at gunpoint the man revealed he was one of the people who had shot at and killed members of his team and Brian certainly wasn't in the mood for lies, games or anything of the sort.

"Where's Osama!?" Brian demanded. The man began shouting things in Arabic, and since Brian didn't know whether this insurgent was trying to yell for backup or anything like that, so he hit the man with his fist causing him to bleed from his mouth. "Where is he!?" Brian asked again.

"I don't know!" the insurgent shouted, spitting some blood out of his mouth. "Honest to Allah, I do not know! What is it you want from me?" Brian reached into his pocket and produced a picture of his mother and his father who had been killed in the attacks on the World Trade Centre two months previous. He showed the insurgent the picture, but didn't say anything, other than 'September 11th'. The insurgent knew exactly what he meant, and did not say anything. Brian drew his knife and cut the man free.

"There is a Marine recon team heading into the city soon" he explained, yanking the man to his feet. "You are going to meet them, you are going to tell them that there are three US Army soldiers still alive in the city, and you are going to turn yourself in to them. Do you understand?" The man nodded, and Brian led him to the top of the staircase.

What happened to the man next was something Brian thought about for a long time afterward. The man turned to face Brian to thank him for sparing him, but instead he had the butt of an M4 assault rifle slammed into his skull- Knocking him out and sending him tumbling down a flight of stairs.

This act of malice was what made Brian stop, not the fact that this was the first zombie he had ever seen. That man he had hit in Kandahar three years ago was a human being in the same way that this zombie was once a human who had friends and family that are going to miss him being around, the same way that while the insurgent was out to kill Brian, he probably had a family- A wife, a son, a daughter... Brian didn't know that- He should have just let the man go and let that be that. Hitting him and leaving him with a substantial injury was something that he should not have done, whether this man was the enemy or not. With his mind now clear, they continued further, with Brian exchanging his L85 with the P90 on his back. They found the lift and pressed the call button, before taking a few steps back just in case something was inside. The lift was clear, the stepped inside and the doors closed behind them.

"Some of these buttons are broken. We're gonna have to do some serious improvising here" Brian sighed. Leon gave Brian a funny look as he pushed the service hatch of the lift open and climb up. He followed him without asking any questions. They then used a service ladder to climb to the third floor, as the button for floor three was out of action. Using Leon's combat knife, Brian was able to pry the door open and they found themselves in the attachment research department.

"Attachment research?" Leon asked, reading the sign, "What do they mean by that?"

"It's where they were developing things like non lethal rounds basically" Brian explained. "They were things that were fired from an attachment on the gun, hence the name."

Leon understood what Brian was on about, and suggested they split up to cover more ground. "Don't worry; this happened when I first arrived in Raccoon City. I had no experience with zombies either. You'll be fine." Brian gave a reluctant nod, and they headed off in separate directions.

Chris and Rebecca had found one of the many sets of stairs that led to the next floor. It looked like an emergency lockdown had come into effect on some of the stairs to try and contain the stomach virus that was thought to have been going around. Chris saw that it could be opened from the other side, and looking around, saw a ventilation tunnel running directly above them.

"Rebecca?" He asked, the tone of his voice making her know she was about to be involved in one of his crazy plans, "How tall are you again?"

"5ft 6... Why?" She asked curiously. Chris jumped up and was able to pull down the hatch.

"Then you'll be able to fit in there. I need you to go through that vent, up to the next floor and release the locks." Rebecca didn't bother to argue. Chris gave her a boost and she crawled into the vent. Chris waited impatiently for about 5 minutes before the gate started to open. He ran up the stairs to find Rebecca, completely covered in dust, trying to brush herself down and sneezing.

"Thanks. Are you ok?" He asked. Rebecca looked like she was about to give him her trademark thumbs up but instead gave Chris the finger. They carried on a little further, taking out any undead monster that got in their way. Rebecca impressed Chris with an unarmed move which involved kicking the zombie in the chin with her right foot, breaking the neck and killing it for good. Since the reformation of S.T.A.R.S, they have all undergone rigorous martial arts, athletics and gymnastics training to ensure they can use a wide array of unarmed neutralising moves as well as using firearms. Chris used his own move on a zombie too, he waited for the zombie to lunge before slashing its throat with his knife. "I think unarmed combat against these things is much more fun and satisfying than using guns" he joked. They found nothing on this floor, so they thought it would be best to head for the fifth, so they could establish where the main security office was.

Jill and Richard had found no one on the ground floor, so they picked the 8th floor to check next, as they thought that any survivors might have locked themselves in their dormitories to wait for help. As they stepped out the lift, they came under attack from a horde of zombies, forcing them to split up. Jill managed to gun some of them down and ran through them, before heading into a dorm room and locking herself in. There was another zombie inside, on which she utilised her neutralising move, a straight martial arts kick to the head, which, to her surprise, actually made her foot go through the skull and out the other side. She sighed as she saw that her shirt, armour and foot were peppered with blood. She sat on the bed and caught her breath.

Richard had charged towards a zombie and unleashed a vicious shoulder charge to its midsection and drove it hard into the floor. The power behind it broke the zombie's back and left it unable to get back up. As it crawled towards Richard after he was able to get back to his feet, Richard kicked the zombie hard in the chin, killing it. Chris had given the S.T.A.R.S members strict orders not to shoot unless absolutely necessary. Richard ran back round to where Jill had run off, and started calling out her name. Jill came out of her hiding place and they stood in the corridor.

"This bit is huge" She said. "I think we'd better split to cover more ground." Richard agreed and they split up, with Jill to search the entire dormitory section while Richard headed off down to the seventh floor to try and find some traces of his friends.

An hour passed, and neither one of the six members of Alpha Team, armed to the teeth and wearing heavy armour could find any trace of their missing comrades. Brian was in the eighth floor dormitory section, thinking he might be able to find some survivors holed up in their rooms. Heading up the corridor, he could see that the walls were no longer the radiant white that he remembered them being. There was blood streaks all along them, with bits of dead flesh that had been blown off stuck to the walls too, some bits even sliding slowly down to the floor. There was a pile of dead bodies in the way, killed by rifle fire, and some with buckshot. A piece of paper was on the floor, and upon picking it up, Brian noticed that it was a piece of paper with a S.T.A.R.S letterhead on it. He read the letter to himself.

"_Dear Bridgette,_

_I understand your concerns about me taking up this dangerous line of work. As a member of S.T.A.R.S., I will always be in the line of fire. I figured this was as good a time as any to explain my actions. Bridgette, I know I've talked about her before, but the memory of my little sister eats at me from the inside. I couldn't save her from that criminal._

_I know you tried to console me, telling me that there was nothing I could do being so young. But I was so paralysed by fear and doubt that I couldn't do anything._

_My baby sister was killed right in front of my very eyes and I couldn't move an inch. I couldn't protect her. I was so helpless. It feels like I should have died in her place and I just can't shake that feeling. All I can do is try to bury that feeling and protect the people that need it most, so they don't have to go through what I did. I'm not giving up this job, and I will continue to protect who I can._

_S.T.A.R.S. is the only way I can live with myself. I don't want to die in vain. I never want to hesitate when that moment comes again._

_Don't worry; I'm not that little kid anymore and I'll come back alive. I promise. You're the most important thing in my life, and I always want to be there for you when you need me._

_I love you_

_Richard"_

Richard must have been through here, and Brian was quite saddened to learn more about one of his friends like that. However, he was adamant that Richard, and the other members of not only his team, but Barry's team too, were still alive. He headed further, scanning backwards and forwards, to make sure he wasn't followed or going to get caught out. He stopped as he passed one door, as he recognised the number. It was the exact room he had slept in while he was stationed there. Checking the knob he found that it was locked. He pounded on the heavy wooden door to try and get the attention of anyone inside.

"Hello?" He called, hammering at the door again, his tactical gloves absorbing some of the force, as he was hitting it incredibly hard. "I'm Brian, from S.T.A.R.S, is anyone in there?" There was no answer. "I've come to rescue you, everything's gonna be ok." Still no response… He rested his back on the wall and gave the door a big hard kick, but as it was so heavy it wouldn't budge, so he ignored Chris' orders about ammo wasting and fired his Desert Eagle at the doorknob, the lock was released and he gingerly pushed it open, only to find an Army 1st Lieutenant hanging from his tie from a water pipe that he had removed the ceiling tile to reveal. Full marks for ingenuity, Brian thought to himself. The man had not been bitten, scratched or otherwise touched; maybe he thought it would be easier to just kill himself before the undead populace got to him. Feeling the body's forehead, Brian noticed that it was still warm; he had died in the last ten to twenty minutes.

"Chris" Brian said into his radio solemnly, "I found a guy hanging in my old dorm room. He hasn't been touched, and he's still warm, looks like I just missed him."

"Are you sure he's dead?" Chris asked. Using a small video camera mounted to his shoulder, Brian recorded the situation, as he was Alpha Team's scout he was the only team member outfitted with this piece of equipment, same way that Joseph Frost and Kenneth Sullivan were outfitted with a camera in the Arklay Mansion Incident. Chris watched the footage on a tiny monitor attached to his wrist.

"Deader than Elvis" Brian replied, straight to the point. Chris sighed on the other end.

"Ok then, check other dorm rooms, there might be more, move quickly." Brian told Chris to hang on, and doing the respectful thing, Brian took the man's dog tags and found another Desert Eagle that he snatched the half empty clip to. Drawing his knife Brian also cut the gentleman down and lay him down on the bed.

"Leave him Brian" Chris said, after Brian told him what he was doing "We don't have the means to extract him."

"Just because the guy is dead doesn't mean I can leave him hanging here like some piece of meat. I just want to spare thirty seconds for some simple dignity." Brian replied with some defiance, putting a bullet in the lieutenant's head to "make sure he won't suffer if a zombie gets to him before an air strike does". He noticed the insignia on the Lieutenant's left arm, a bald eagle with the words 101st Airborne written over it.

That was another reason Brian had to cut him down, this man was one of his men, and after what he had done to that man in Afghanistan, he was now out to try and somehow put things right, and this act of compassion was setting him down the right track. Jill, Leon, Rebecca and Richard all heard the conversation, and all three were amazed at Brian's upholding of what he thought was 'right'. Brian respected Chris a lot, as he had heard about everything he and the others had been through in the July of 1998, but seeing the body of one of his Army colleagues had reminded him of the man he used to be, and he had to help those that were dead as well as those that were still alive. Chris felt that Brian was right in cutting the man's body down, he too used to be in the military, but stopping to help someone is what got Chris discharged from the Air Force, making him a little hesitant when Brian told him what he was doing.

As Brian stepped out into the corridor and killed a couple more zombies, he remembered a lounge just up ahead of where he was, so he thought he'd try in there, it was a big room with lots of hiding spaces. The door was open, so he poked his head through to see who was inside, thankfully, there was no one there, so he began searching amongst all the dropped pieces of paper for any information or suicide notes that he might be able to pass on to loved ones or get some idea as to what had happened before his team had arrived. He was about to begin reading one such note when he heard some noises coming from behind a door on the far side of the room. The door led into a games room which had a bar and other recreational things inside it such as pool tables and dart boards. Brian opened the door to see Jill struggling with an infected guard dog. Brian drew his Beretta and fired three shots at the demonic hound, but not one shot seemed to weaken it in any way. The dog looked up, its eyes glazed over and rotting flesh hanging off its bones, and charged. Waiting for the exact time to strike, Brian timed a kick to perfection that sent the dog flying across the room. As it struggled to get up, Brian was over it in an instant, and stepped on its neck to prevent it from biting. Drawing his Desert Eagle into his left hand, he fired a single shot at the monster, the bullet ripping straight through its head and killed it.

"Stay" He said coldly. Jill sat up and looked at him. "Are you ok?" Brian asked. Jill, panting and looking incredibly shaken, as well as sweating buckets, gave a silent nod. Brian walked over to her and pulled her to her feet.

"Where's Leon?" She asked. Brian explained that they split to cover more ground, which was what all of them seemed to have done, even if it was stupidly dangerous. Jill then explained that she was searching for exactly what Brian was searching for, but found nothing, just the few suicide notes and a lot of spilt beer on the bar. Just to be safe, she popped a Daylight capsule into her mouth and swallowed it.

"How are you for ammo?" Brian asked.

"Fine for now" She replied, wiping the sweat from her brow, some of her foundation smearing off in the process. "I found some handgun magazines in one of the dorm rooms.

"How are you holding up?" She asked, noticing that Brian was looking a little pale.

"I'll be fine" He replied, "I just gotta keep moving and keep on task or I'll start to lose my mind. Are _you_ going to be ok though? You had a lucky escape."

"I'll do the same as you- Keep moving before I'll go crazy. I'm going to explore round here for clues. You just find Carlos, Kevin and the others." Brian cradled his rifle and headed back towards the door, his boots and the lower parts of his trousers stained with blood.

"Brian" Jill called after him. Brian turned to face her. "Thank you" Brian smiled and walked out into the hallway, while Jill picked through the things in the lounge. Back in the hallway, Brian found Rebecca putting a bullet through the head of a zombie.

"Shit!" she swore a little out of character as she looked at her handgun and saw it to be empty.

"Are you ok Rebecca?" Brian asked, making Rebecca jump. She spun around and put her hand over her heart to make sure it was still beating. She showed him the empty Beretta. Being the medic and having to carry so many medical supplies around, Rebecca never took as much firepower as the rest of the team. She preferred to be able to move quickly around and being the smallest of the team, she was able to use her size and her athletic fitness to get around in hostile zones. Brian reached down to a thigh holster on his right leg and handed her his spare Desert Eagle, which still had all the ammunition left for it. He also provided her with two magazines for it.

"Be careful, that's really powerful." He warned. Rebecca took it and put it in her Beretta's holster, and put her standard 9mm handgun into the bag that contained all her medical supplies.

Meanwhile, Bravo team were still searching the facility. Trying to find out if anyone was still alive and try and establish contact with the outside world. Barry and his team had made their way to the seventh floor via a pit stop the fourth, where lots of medical supplies were to be found. Ryan was able to get a proper bandage put on his arm and get the wound cleaned, which had bought him a little bit of extra time. However, the T-Virus infection inside him was starting to multiply... They needed to find Rebecca and fast...

Carlos and Kevin had headed to the fourth floor, just as Barry's group left where they searched for medical supplies. They found a couple of first aid sprays, which they placed into their pockets, and rummaged around for anything else just in case, such as bandages, dressings and plasters. They left one of the labs and headed up the corridor, but something was coming towards them. It wasn't a zombie, it was something much worse. It was about six and a half feet tall and had a thick green skin that reflected the lights on the ceiling. Anyone who survived the mansion incident or ventured into Umbrella's underground labs under Raccoon City would recognise this as a Hunter, one of Umbrella's prized specimens, what it was doing miles away in Michigan was anyone's guess. Carlos and Kevin unloaded their liberated MP5s into the monster, but it was no good, there were only five rounds left in each clip, and the hunter just brushed them off.

"Shall we run?" Carlos asked, not taking his eyes of the monster.

"No, we're gonna finish this like men." Kevin replied with bravery. They dropped the MP5s, drew their Berettas and opened fire as the Hunter roared and came running towards them. When it was about 10ft away, a window to one of the labs smashed and a heavily armed man came flying out. He did a commando roll onto the floor and while in a prone position opened fire at the back of the Hunter's head. The Hunter shook from the pounding it took from the soldier's machine gun. Still firing, he got up on to one knee and kept firing till he was out of ammunition and the Hunter screamed and fell to the ground dead. Kevin and Carlos looked up the hallway to see Brian on one knee, smoking L85 in hand. He got up, put his beret back on as he had lost it when diving through the window, and held the gun in his left hand as he looked at the dead Hunter lying on the ground. He popped another clip into his L85, before handing his MP5 to Carlos and the P90 to Kevin. He then brushed the broken shards of glass off his clothes, some of them slightly tearing his shirt and another bit leaving him with a small cut on his face that was bleeding a little, as well as a bunch of small cuts on his arms before he activated his radio to speak to Chris. "Chris, I've found Kevin and Carlos."

"Thank God, are they ok?"  
"They're fine; they were under attack by a big green lizard monster type thing. It looked like it could rip your head off like a praying mantis. We're gonna head to the security office. Will you meet us there?"

"Sure thing. I'll let the others know. Chris out." Kevin gave the P90 a check.

"Where is the security office?" He asked "Because that's what we were looking for."

"Next floor" Brian said casually.

"Wow" Carlos exclaimed. "Hollywood couldn't script that better if it tried."

Having headed all the way back to the second floor, Ryan and Brad kept on searching for survivors and any sign of Alpha team.

"Where the hell are they?" Brad muttered under his breath. "They should have arrived by now." He looked at Ryan, who was sweating and starting to turn pale. He collapsed onto the floor and started to gag. Brad picked his friend up and helped him along and up a flight of stairs to the third floor.

"Brad" Ryan panted, "Put me down. I can't go on much longer... Please, go on without me." Brad took Ryan into an office and set him down on the floor, propping him up against the wall. Ryan unloaded the clip to his M4 and handed it to Brad.

"Take it. You'll make better use of this than me. Now get out of here before I turn into one of them."

"No" Brad protested. "I'm not gonna leave you."

"You have to, if you stay here with me, I'll turn, and I'll try to kill you. Go and find Alpha team, see if that medic has some sort of cure. If not, you might as well take this." He handed Brad a photo of him and a really pretty looking woman, standing on Liberty Island with the New York City skyline behind them. He had written something on the back for her.

"Sure thing. I'll give this to Holly as soon as I get back to Raccoon City, I promise. He folded the picture up and put it in his side pack, before ruffling up Ryan's hair like a father would his son.

"Catch up with you down the road" Ryan smiled. Brad stood up.

"Further on up the road" he replied. They saluted each other and Brad ran out the door to see if he could find Rebecca and give Ryan some help. As Ryan heard Brad running round the corner, he heard the groaning of a zombie coming towards his position. The zombie walked past the door and saw Ryan on the floor.

"This is it..." He thought, and put his Beretta to his head. The zombie got closer and closer, with Ryan waiting for the right moment to pull the trigger. Brad was running up some stairs when he heard the gunshot.

"NO!" He sighed to himself, and looked upwards to the sky. "Further on up the road..."

Chris had radioed the other members of Alpha team to come to the fifth floor security office. Brian led Kevin and Carlos up a corridor and showed them into the main office, where they could check the security cameras to see where the others had ended up. Checking the television monitor he flicked through the various cameras, finding nothing on the screens but zombies roaming the corridors. After filing through about ten or twelve he caught sight of the headless soldiers being ripped apart by the undead. Carlos looked away, cringing. Another brief camera changing session revealed that there was something other than hunters and zombies skulking around. It had long claws on its hands and oversized feet and looked like a regular human turned inside out. It crawled like a dog along the walls and its most distinguishing features were its tongue, which it used like a snake to sense things, and its large brain protruding from its head, causing the creature to have no eyes. Brian gasped at what he was seeing, and flicked to the next camera to see that Jill, Chris, Richard, Rebecca and Leon were heading up that same corridor. He gave them a quick heads up over the radio.

"Chris" He said in a concerned voice, "There's a creature in your corridor. It's blind and looks like it uses relies on hearing and its tongue to sense things. You need to be extremely careful." Chris acknowledged him and Brian turned back to the previous camera shot. Another identical creature had joined the first one, and it drove its tongue through one of the same black dressed soldiers that Kevin's group found earlier that night. The three men in the security office cringed as they watched the soldier die in agonising pain. Chris's group heard the screams and they readied their weapons. Leon saw the two freaks of nature approaching and signalled for everyone to stop.

"What is it?" Chris asked. Leon held his finger of his lips to signal Chris to be absolutely silent. They stood perfectly still as the two creatures circled them.

"Licker" Leon whispered, "I found some of these lurking in the old police station." The lickers dropped off the ceiling and sat like dogs in front and behind the S.T.A.R.S team. Brian watched the events unfold on the monitor. He had to do something before they were all killed. He noticed an iPod that had been connected to the computer so the owner could listen to his music through the speakers and still carry out his tasks. Brian needed something that would distract the lickers from his colleagues, and searched for a song that he could play through the intercom to give his friends a chance to shoot. Scrolling down the list he found that this person had a substantial amount of heavy metal music loaded onto it. He sent a transmission for the stranded Alpha team to cover their ears and hit play, placing the speakers right next to the intercom and allowing it to be broadcast over the announce system. The lickers were distracted by the noise and started to try and find the source. Seizing the opportunity, Richard fired his shotgun at one of the lickers' heads, sending blood all over the walls, and over him. Rebecca and the others were able to gun down the other one pretty easily. Once Brian saw that both lickers were dead, he stopped the music, turned off the PA and sat down on the computer desk.

Security Office, October 5th- 21:25:

Ten of the twelve S.T.A.R.S members who entered the facility sat on the floor in a circle, waiting for both Brad and Ryan to show up.

"I hope they get here soon" Said Barry worriedly, "Ryan was bitten."

"He was WHAT?" Rebecca asked, standing up. "We've got to find them."

"No Rebecca" Chris interjected, "It's too dangerous for anyone to be out there alone. They'll be along soon. Besides, what the hell are we suppose to do if you get hurt?" Brian leant against one of the desks, holding his beret in his hands with his knees drawn up slightly, just like he did when he was leaning against the police car the other day. Rebecca let out a tired yawn and lay on her side on the floor. Brian stretched and a piece of paper fell onto his head, and into his lap.

"What is it?" Jill asked. Brian read out the writing on the piece of paper:

"_To whomever reads this: I am trapped within this building with all potential escape routes inaccessible as there is no telling what is outside. Until recently, I had locked myself within this office, armed with only an M9 and a shotgun. As of October 5__th__, 21:00 hours I am still alive, although injured from a zombie bite to my ankle, and a gunshot wound to the chest. I heard the gunfire from downstairs and have since left to investigate, hoping I can find rescue and also make an attempt at finding other survivors. I will be waiting in the lounge on the 8__th__ floor dormitory section should any of you read this. If you are who I think you are then I pray that you have the cure for what has infected me. Please help, I'm running out of ammo... and time..."_

Chris gave a quick glance around the room, trying to select who would go and find the missing facility worker.

"Rebecca, Richard and Leon, you go and find him. Treat his wounds there and bring him straight back." He then looked at the exhausted Bravo team. "We'll stay right here. You all take a nap, Brian, Jill and I will watch out for Brad and Ryan. We'll take it in turns to sleep." Bravo team were delighted by that suggestion, and immediately curled up on the floor to sleep. Kevin even went as far as moving everything off one of the desks to sleep on it. As they dropped off into their slumber, there was a knock on the door, and it was opened slowly, making everyone jump up. A man dressed in a navy blue shirt, black body armour and black combat trousers, covered with spots of blood and looking completely exhausted came in. Barry was relieved at what he saw. But something was amiss.

"Brad?" He asked, "Where's Ryan?" Brad just hung his head.

"Ryan's dead" he announced sadly. "We were looking for everyone else when he said he couldn't go on much further. I left him in an office and he committed suicide..." Everyone in the room stayed silent. Brad curled up under a desk and drifted off to sleep, not saying another word.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Commander Chamberlain's Office, September 25th 2004. 0845:

"Officer MacFarlane, a pleasure to meet you" The Commander greeted his newest officer. "I've read and heard all about you, and I must say I can not wait to get you strapped up and out there." Brian didn't say anything. In his mind, he hadn't really done anything great, but that's just how he was. "I want you to accompany the S.P.F on a raid as all the other S.T.A.R.S members are occupied. You think that's going to be okay? Great- My assistant Gary will take you to the office and get you equipped. Some gear is waiting for you in the changing rooms. Any questions? Off you go, and good luck." Brian just nodded, shook the Commander's hand and left the office to prepare for the mission...

Security Office, October 6th- 0600:

Alpha team awoke off their sleeping shift and let out a large stretch. In total all they had was about two hours worth of sleep, as gunshots kept ringing out as zombies were dropped left right and centre. Chris rallied his team together, plus the security guard who had written the S.O.S note. Rebecca had given him a Daylight capsule and had bandaged his wounds up, and he was starting to feel a tiny bit better.

"We'd better head to the roof" Chris explained. "I can call the Osprey back in while we're up there." He led them out the office, with Jill helping the injured facility worker. They found a lift and crammed themselves into it, with Richard just being able to press the button for the roof. After what seemed a slow and long ride for three floors, the lift let out a ping noise and the doors opened revealing an incredibly large lounge, where researchers awaited their helicopter transport to Hancock before getting a flight into Detroit or Green Bay and then to wherever their destination was. There was a bar, and a lot of seats, set out just like the departure lounge for an airport. There were a set of large metal doors at the end of the lounge that led out onto the two helipads via a small set of stairs, as the lounge was slightly set into the building to add a bit of extra room and prevent the windows smashing when the helicopters landed. Chris looked around to see if everything was clear, and led everyone out into the room. However, he stopped when he saw someone standing in front of the doors. He was dressed in all black, had blonde gelled back hair and wore a pair of black sunglasses.

"Wesker?" Chris asked, shocked, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the exact same thing" He replied with a surprised look on his face, not expecting the S.T.A.R.S to have figured out his plan to destroy them one team at a time. He stared at the teams, every single one of them bar Brian, Ryan, Brad and the rescued security guard survivors of the Arklay Mountain or Raccoon City incident. Thinking that Richard and Rebecca had died that night, he stared at them like he was in some kind of nightmare.

"So it was YOU who shot that assassin, butchered all those drug dealers and held Brian at gunpoint." Jill continued. Wesker gave a sarcastic clap, the sound muffled by his leather gloves.

"You ARE clever Jill" he replied sarcastically, adjusting his sunglasses. "Did you work out the other piece of the puzzle? I would have thought that would have led you to me sooner."

"Wait" Richard had a brainwave. "T Virus, G Virus, T- Veronica Virus."

"Well done, and it was the T Virus I released into this facility, and once I had thought everyone was dead, I released the Hunter to see if he could track any survivors down, and knowing you'd somehow end up here, I could then watch you all die." Wesker noticed the facility worker being held up by Jill. "Looks like he missed one, but it looks like one of my men got to you first." Chris was fuming with rage.

"You sick, twisted bastard!" He ran at Wesker, but Wesker was equal to him and unleashed an elbow blow that was superhuman in strength, Chris was sent flying backwards into the lift door, buckling it slightly. He got up to his feet slowly with some help from Brad. Wesker looked at the group standing in front of him. "Any other takers?" and adopted a martial arts stance. Chris took his position at the front of the group again, holding his abdomen.

"Just me." He said bravely, "You started this mess six years ago, and it's my duty to make sure I finish it." He dropped all his weapons and Kevlar jacket and adopted a martial arts stance as well. "Everybody go to the roof and wait there. Leon, you send a transmission out to Greg and have him pick us up, as well as getting an air strike called in." Leon did as he was told, and was given an ETA from bomber command: 15 minutes. He started a countdown on his watch, as did Chris. Rebecca stood beside Chris and begged him to reconsider.

"Chris, there has to be another way!"  
"No Rebecca. I'm gonna make sure something like this never happens again." Wesker drew a handgun from his holster.

"Rebecca Chambers..." He sighed, "Why won't you die?" Rebecca turned to look at him and Wesker pulled the trigger. The bullet grazed the side of Rebecca's neck and she put her hand over it instinctively. She felt something running down her right hand... Blood... The bullet had burst one of her veins and blood was being sprayed everywhere. In the commotion, Leon led everyone onto the roof, but Wesker didn't put up much of a fight, he just let them go, Chris was the one man he wanted dead. Rebecca stumbled over towards the doors to the lift, blood still going everywhere.

"REBECCA!" Richard called out in horror. He dropped everything and immediately rushed to her aid, as did Brian. Rebecca let go of her neck and took off her rucksack so that Richard could make an attempt at helping her. Richard sat her down, propped up against the wall and Brian ran straight over, sliding in a similar way to a soccer slide tackle over to them so he was on the floor and helping as quickly as possible. Brian pushed hard on the wound, trying to stop the bleeding, but it was no use, he was getting showered, and in no time at all a pool of blood had started to appear around them on the linoleum floor. Suddenly, he remembered something from an ice hockey game he saw way back in 1988, when goalkeeper Clint Malarchuck accidentally got his throat slashed by an opposing player who was checked into him, and remembered reading in the paper the next day how the doctor saved his life. Brian pinched the vein and he was able to slow the severity of the bleeding.

"Richard..." Rebecca said weakly, "The haemostat... It's in a clear bottle, green coloured liquid..." Richard rummaged through the bag and found it. He quickly loaded it into a syringe and injected it into the artery in Rebecca's wrist.

Chris and Wesker meanwhile had engaged in hand to hand combat, and Chris was losing badly. Wesker's superhuman strength had overpowered him. Wesker let out a violent punch that sent Chris flying into the bar. He jumped in the air and was about to deliver a final punishing blow, but Chris was some how able to dodge it, and dodge the barrage of kicks and punches Wesker was throwing at him, and managed to get a couple of hits in himself, including a roundhouse kick that sent Wesker crashing into some of the chairs.

Back in the corner by the lift doors, Brian and Richard had used Rebecca's haemostatic medicine in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Brian kept pinching the artery until he felt the blood start to go sticky and clot. He let go to make sure it worked, and sat Rebecca upright, holding her. Rebecca took hold of Brian's hand.

"Brian" She said with a pleased smile, practically whispering, "It works... It actually works..." Brian tried to keep a brave face on things, and smiled at her.

"Yeah, you're quite clever when it comes to medicine, aren't ya?"

"There's something you should know" Rebecca continued, and told him what she wanted him to hear. She started to breath deeply, and was on the edge of consciousness.

"Rebecca... I don't know what to say..." Brian admitted. Richard then ran outside to tell Leon to have a medical evac sent over with an AB blood transfusion as quickly as possible, but told her what he had been wanting to say for a while. Rebecca smiled at him. He kissed her on the forehead and held her hand tight, talking to her to keep her awake, but he could not help but periodically glance at the fight happening behind them.

After asking Rebecca if she was comfortable, Brian jumped to his feet, removed his protective jacket and charged at the former S.T.A.R.S Alpha Team captain as he laid Chris out on the floor. Brian unleashed a devastating football tackle that he was famous for in school that sent Wesker crashing to the floor. Wesker cracked Brian in the side of the head with his elbow and using his free leg was able to send Brian a few feet from where he was. With adrenaline rushing through his veins, Brian was on his feet in no time and drawing his Beretta opened fire upon Wesker, but due to his fast reflexes and speed brought on by the virus inside him, Wesker dodged each shot. Brian got closer and closer and the pair grappled in the centre of the room, this time Brian punching Wesker in the gut and letting a high kick impact into Wesker's chin, dazing him and causing him to stumble before aiming his Beretta at Wesker's body. The young S.T.A.R.S member had an opportunity to end this here and now, and made an attempt to shoot Wesker while he had the chance. It was impossible to react quickly enough as Wesker shot over to him and they wrestled with the gun in their hands. A shot was fired that went straight through the ceiling, and in the struggle, Wesker was able to eject the magazine and send the gun over to the doors to the helipad, where the surviving S.T.A.R.S members were standing at the edge, watching for their rescue craft. The thing that felt strangest to Brian and Chris is that this fight was a little too easy. The last time Chris and Wesker fought Wesker had nearly walked all over him, only being saved by an explosion separating the two, vowing to finish the fight the next time they met.

"His virus is dying." Chris thought to himself. "That's the only reason we're able to stand a chance in this." Wesker used a last burst of superhuman strength to throw Brian towards the wall near where Rebecca was; hitting it hard upside down and falling to the floor face first, winding him.

Brian crawled around on the floor coughing and spluttering and holding his Beretta in his hand that he put back in the holster as there was no point in using it anymore. Chris was able to use his extreme will to get back into the fight, punching Wesker in the face and smashing a chair over his head. Wesker, not even dazed by the tactic his former subordinate used, threw Chris hard onto the floor and pinned him down as he drew a combat knife with the S.T.A.R.S emblem engraved on it.

"This belonged to a friend of yours" He told Chris coldly in his instantly recognisable voice. "Does the name Joseph Frost mean anything to you?" Chris grunted and groaned as he tried to free himself from Wesker's vice-like grip.

"Joseph and the others were just normal people" Chris replied, "Why did you let them get caught up in this? And why do you still want us dead?"

"A game of chess can not be won without pawns" Wesker continued. "Edward, Joseph, Kenneth, Forest, Brad, Kevin and Enrico were just expendable pawns in my plans. But you, Jill, Barry, Rebecca and Richard just wouldn't die, despite my best efforts. That Leon fellow seems to be highly skilled too, as well as Kevin. One of my few regrets is not letting the latter join… He would have made the perfect guinea pig for the Tyrant. They're both survivors of Raccoon City, they know far too much for my liking…"

Over in the corner, Brian was finally able to lift his head and get his bearings on where his was. Everything was hazy and his vision was off focus. He turned through 180 degrees on his hands and knees to see how Rebecca was. She was still breathing, but only slightly, and was hanging her head as she was so weak she couldn't keep it up. Very slowly, she turned to face her friend, slowly reaching down towards her leg and drew the desert eagle Brian had given her earlier in the night. She passed it to her left hand, put the gun on the floor and slid it across to him. The gun was covered in blood, but Brian had no time to look at it, he had to end this fight and get Rebecca some medical attention immediately. If he couldn't save his Staff Sergeant in Afghanistan or at the rate things were going Rebecca, he should at the very least try to save Chris. He stood up gingerly, barely able to stand, and hobbled over to where his captain and the bio-terrorist were, clutching the gun in his left hand. As he got closer, everything seemed to be returning to normal, and his strength was now at the point where he could mount a final attack. As Wesker was about to stab Chris, Brian rushed him and kicked him hard in the side of the head, knocking the former S.T.A.R.S captain to the floor, unconscious. Brian stared at Wesker, and slowly raised the gun so the sights were aligned with Wesker's head. Without thinking, he squeezed the trigger, the magnum round ripping straight through the head of the Umbrella scientist. Chris picked himself up and stood next to his latest recruit. Looking down at the handgun, they noticed that it was empty- the slide locked back as it awaited a reload. They looked at each other, battered and bruised, and then at Rebecca. Brian tossed the gun away as they ran over to her to get her out before any of the zombies figured out how to get up the stairs.

Chris picked up Rebecca's limp body and heading towards the doors to the roof. Brian picked up his L85 and jacket and they ran outside, leaving everything else exactly where it was.

"What a magnificent sight…" Brian thought. They headed outside to see three Ospreys descending down to the helipad, and the pilots, using their extreme skill, hovered inches from the edge so that once everyone was aboard they could pull out straight away. Chris ran straight for the medical evac plane, carrying Rebecca in his arms, and handed her to some doctors who had stepped onto the helipad, and explained to them what had happened. Brian stood next to Chris and watched as she was loaded onto the plane. He took off his blood soaked beret and placed it into Rebecca's hand. Chris put his hand on Brian's shoulder.

"Come on" He said sympathetically. "Let them do their jobs. We'll ride home with the others." As they ran over to the transport that would lift them back to Raccoon City, the doors burst open, and a very pale, bloodied and exhausted man, dressed in black combat gear with a navy blue T-shirt came out, limping heavily. He turned around to see that there were zombies following him. He tried to run as quickly as possible towards the others. The zombies must have worked out how to use stairs. Kevin, along with Leon, Brian and Jill, saw what was happening and immediately dashed back across the helipad to clear some zombies and allow the person to get to the evacuation planes. Leon and Kevin opened fire on the undead beings, buying the man more time. Jill led him over to the medical plane and handed him a Daylight capsule.

"Here, take this, quickly!" She said with a lot of urgency in her voice. The man took the pill and climbed onto the plane, where the injured facility worker and Rebecca were being treated, although more focus was on Rebecca more than anyone. When they found that the man was aboard the plane, Kevin and Leon headed for their respective transports, and the planes took off with a minute to spare on Leon's watch. They watched as the zombies swarmed the helipad, their arms outstretched as they desperately wanted fresh meat. Chris could see through the skylight of the departure lounge some zombies feasting on the corpse of Wesker.

He let out a sigh, as although he had succeeded in rescuing his friends in Bravo team and eliminating the world's most feared terrorist, it was a rather hollow victory. One of his men was bitten multiple times and another was lying on a stretcher on the brink of death. Brian was sat in the co-pilot's seat of the Osprey. He stared down at his hands, where he saw nothing but Rebecca's blood. It was all over his hands, all over his shirt, up his arms, on his combat trousers, on his face and had soaked through his beret into his hair. He had been completely showered in it. Chris poked his head through the door to see if Brian was ok.

"You did a great job back there" He praised, "Rebecca would have done the same for you, and for all of us. Once we get back I'm recommending both you and Richard for the R.P.D Medal of Honour."

He gave Brian a congratulatory pat on the back and headed back into the main hold, where he informed Jill of what was going on.

"That medical plane is going to take Rebecca, Ryan and Darryl the security guard to Green Bay to get proper medical attention. They'll let us know everything that's happening, and will update us on Rebecca's condition." The rest of Alpha team just sat in silence as a mark of respect for her, as not only was she was the youngest S.T.A.R.S member, she was the brightest member in terms of personality, a very outgoing person who looked up to everyone else, especially Chris, as older brothers and sisters. Meanwhile, in Bravo team's transport, Brad watched as the medical plane took a right turn and headed towards Green Bay, Wisconsin, smiling as he knew that Ryan was in fact alive and that gunshot he heard was him shooting the zombie in the head. As they got about a mile away from the facility, they heard the roar of a B-52 bomber escorted by several F-16 Falcons flying over them. They had released entire payloads of laser guided bombs at the building, which reduced it to a pile of burning rubble in seconds...

Over Raccoon City, October 6th- 1255:

After getting some much needed sleep on the Osprey, Alpha team awoke to find themselves coming over the flatlands in the east of the city. The plane banked slightly to the right and aligned itself for a final approach to the R.P.D's roof helipad. The engines started to move to their upright position and descended from around 1000ft down to just about 50. It slowed right down and hovered over the helipad. Richard looked out the window and could see a large gathering of people in the police station gardens, with officers attempting to hold them off. He saw flashes as they started to take pictures. He gave Chris a tap on the shoulder.

"There's a massive media circus down there" He exclaimed. Chris looked out of the window and saw them all down below.

"Aw shit!" He sighed, "I hate talking to the press!"

The Osprey touched down and Alpha team disembarked. It then took off and they cleared the helipad so that Bravo's transport could land. They headed into their respective offices and began the process of recovering. However, Brian walked straight through the changing room, taking his apartment key with him, and out the office door on the other side. Jill followed him as far as the changing room door and called after him.

"Brian! Where are you going?"

"Jill" Richard said from the back of the changing room, "Let him go, he's just a little messed up after what he's seen in there and what happened just before we escaped to the roof."

"No… Something else must have happened in there" Jill argued.

"Well, those two are mighty close" Leon continued, "Just let him go and calm down, he'll come around."

S.T.A.R.S Office, October 6th- 1330:

Alpha team sat down at their desks filling in the paperwork when Chris started getting concerned as to where Brian had gone to. He looked up and called out across the office to Richard and Leon.

"Richard, Leon: Go to Rebecca's apartment and see if Brian's there. Just a welfare check, but I suggest showering and putting your civilian clothes back on first; you're both quite bloodied up as well." Richard and Leon immediately got up and headed to the changing rooms. They too were concerned for Brian's well being. Richard was there when Rebecca confessed her love to Brian and knew that was the reason why he had run off. But he didn't mention it to anyone. They quickly got changed and headed down to the car park where they took an unmarked car round to Rebecca's apartment. When they arrived, they knocked on the landlord's window.

"What is it?" He asked rudely. "Wait, I know you" he said to Richard, the tone of his voice completely changing "You're one of Chambers' friends aren't you? Her roommate came through here a few hours ago totally covered in blood and looked rather disorientated. You'd better check on him, he was pretty messed up." Richard and Leon ran for the lift and pressed the button for the fifth floor. Richard led Leon up to Rebecca's apartment and Richard started knocking on the door.

"Brian!" He called, "It's Richard! Are you ok? Chris sent us on a welfare check, can you open the door?" There was no response. Leon then knocked, this time harder. Still no response. He thought he could hear music from the other side, and knew Brian was inside. Richard put his back to the opposite wall and kicked the door in hard. Looking inside the apartment they saw Brian sat at the kitchen table, with his head on it, bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey in hand, and an empty bottle of vodka next to the other, which was extended over the table. The music Leon could hear turned out to be_ Moonlight Sonata _by Beethoven that had been placed on a constant loop on the stereo. Richard switched it off while Leon tended to Brian.

"He's passed out" he confirmed, and shook Brian to try and wake him. After a few good hard shakes he started to come round, and fell off his chair. Leon picked him up and Richard helped keep him stand up. It looked like Brian had gone home and immediately started drinking, as he was still in uniform and had made no attempt to clean the blood off him.

"God damn it Brian!" Leon joked, "You're totally wasted!" He pulled out his mobile phone and gave Chris an update. Upon hearing the news, Chris let out a sigh of relief. Leon put the phone away and they thought about what they should do with Brian.

"What does Chris want us to do?" Richard asked.

"I think we should try and sneak him back into the station and put him in the drunk tank." Richard thought that would be best, as then they could at least keep an eye on him in there. They didn't get him as far as the front door before Brian started to vomit all over the floor. Richard picked up the bin and held it so Brian could be sick into it. They carried him downstairs and out to the car, where they put him in the back seat and strapped him in.

Upon arriving back at the station, they carried him all the way down to the holding cells and placed him on the bed. The officer in charge came up to them and asked them what was going on. Richard invented some sort of story about Brian being shaken and beaten by what had happened in Michigan and he just needed somewhere to rest. The officer headed over to his store cupboard and took out a pillow and a blanket, and Leon put the pillow under Brian's head, and lay the blanket over him to keep him warm. Leon stayed to watch over him while Richard headed back upstairs to the S.T.A.R.S office, where everyone had finished their paperwork and was taking a well deserved nap on their desks in their civilian clothes. He went in to the medical room and started to rummage around for any personal effects that Rebecca had left in there and should take them back down to Brian in the cells, as he was expecting the worst. There was a picture of Rebecca in her S.T.A.R.S uniform standing in between her mother and father, as well as her university certificates, and her R.P.D Academy graduation certificate. In a drawer in her desk he found her wallet, which contained $50 in two fives, two tens and a twenty dollar bill, her driver's license and her credit cards. He picked them all up and was just about to leave when Chris's phone rang, waking everyone up. He picked up the phone and put it to his ear. It was the hospital in Green Bay where the injured S.T.A.R.S members and the security guard were taken to. Richard headed back over to his desk and made sure he was sat down for the news that Chris was about to pass on to the rest of the team...

Raccoon City Cemetery, December 24th 2004- 1200:

Christmas in Raccoon City would be loved by small children in warmer parts of the US as it is usually snowing, and today was no exception. Brian had headed to the Raccoon City cemetery, dressed in his Army Greens, black shoes, leather gloves, long black overcoat, and wearing all his medals, one of which being the R.P.D Medal of Honour, which the President of the United States George W. Bush himself had awarded to all the members of S.T.A.R.S, including Brad, Ryan and Darryl. Brian was carrying a bouquet of Freesias, his mother's favourite flowers, to a gravestone in the centre of the cemetery. The gravestone was made of a blue marble, and had 'Chambers: A friend to everyone and loved by all who knew her' engraved in gold letters, and other bouquets of flowers had been placed there.

"I hope these are ok" Brian smiled.

"Yeah" said Rebecca solemnly, approaching him from his left hand side in her ceremonial S.T.A.R.S uniform, with a black overcoat like Brian's keeping her warm "They're lovely." Brian handed the flowers to her and she placed them down on her aunt's grave. The pair saluted, relaxed and stared at the grave momentarily. After a brief cuddle, Brian took hold of Rebecca's hand and they headed through the snow back towards their apartment. The future looked bright for both of them. Because of the money they made after selling the haemostatic medicine to the largest pharmaceutical company in the US after Umbrella's demise, they were able to move into a larger house in a quiet suburb of Raccoon City on the south west side. Brian sobered up and quit drinking, after admitting he was in fact an alcoholic, although Rebecca allows him to have a couple of beers over the course of the Christmas holiday.

Barry Burton on the other hand announced his retirement just after he turned 45, instead of waiting until he turned 50. The incident in the test facility was just too much, and took a lot out of him. The decision was taken incredibly well by everyone in S.T.A.R.S and by everyone else in the R.P.D, as Barry was an extremely well respected man who was, as many would describe him, as 'The nicest guy you could ever meet'. Billy Coen would be promoted to the leader of Bravo team after Barry's retirement, with Carlos Oliveira being his second in command, the decision being made based on military rank- 2nd Lieutenant and Corporal respectively. Ryan Williams and Brad Tucker, as well as Daryl Parker the security guard, joined as full time members after Ryan's slow but thankfully full recovery, finally bringing the Bravo team squad number to the six that Chris preferred to have in each team. Impressed by the piloting skill of Greg who flew them into the facility, Chris begged Commander Chamberlain to hire him as S.T.A.R.S' official pilot, as well as securing two Ospreys to replace the small and cramped helicopters they usually used, selling one of them and using the other as a traffic watch helicopter that serves the area. The roster was finalised two weeks after Barry's retirement, with no changes to be made for a long time. Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine Leon Kennedy, Richard Aiken, Brian MacFarlane and Rebecca Chambers made up Alpha Team with Greg Martin, a former Marine Osprey Pilot, as their pilot. Bravo Team consisted of Billy Coen, Carlos Oliveira, Kevin Ryman, Ryan Williams, Brad Tucker, Daryl Parker with Eddie Marshall, another Marine, as pilot.

As for the OICW assault rifle that was the centre of the investigation, it was returned to the Government, only to have it sent back two weeks later as a trial weapon. Although Brian was the only person who could use it properly, he found it was too big and hefty compared to the L85 and the P90. So the OICW, like most of the other weapons down in the armoury, just sits on the shelf, gathering dust, but forever being remembered in the R.P.D as being the murder weapon of the decade.


End file.
